The Melody of The Wanderer
by Illusionary Reality
Summary: Time, was a fickle thing. In time, nations have risen, and nations have fallen. In time, children had become men, men had become heroes, heroes had become legends, and legends had receded into mere myths. Arriving in a new world unlike his own, Sasuke had two options. Advance, challenge and rise into legend, or fall, fail and descend into iniquity. In the end, only time would tell.
1. Prologue

**A/N: This is it. My first attempt at a Fairy Tail Xover featuring someone other than our loveable blonde knucklehead as the main character. I hope this goes over as well as The Devil's Dark Knight. Anyway... Without further ado... I give you...**

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**The Melody of the Wanderer**

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"You are here to make a difference, to either improve the world or worsen it. And whether or not you consciously choose to, you _will _accomplish one or the other.

\- Richelle E. Goodrich

_**+Prologue+**_

Falling.

The art of being weightless as you naturally succumb to the omnipresence of earth's gravity.

During the time one spends in the air while falling, consciousness is but an illusion, you feel oddly at peace with everything, your mind blank and thoughtless as you simply take in the thrill of the wind rushing against your face.

The task of free-falling through the sky took a lot of courage, but the feeling of freedom was immeasurable, as your hands took in the soft fluffy clouds of the sky which had always seemed untouchable, or perhaps staring at the beauty of the glowing full moon and the numerous stars that lined the night sky… it was simply wonderful.

Of course one had to avoid insects and birds that made the airspace their home, the ride was thrilling, as the cities below sparkled in your peripheral vision, their lights looking like a dance of magnificent fire flies.

Falling.

It was great. If only… he had a parachute.

Or perhaps… if only, he had chosen to free-fall of his own free-will.

And of course, it would be nice… if he wasn't going to crash into the ocean of all places.

Let's not forget, that with the speed and velocity at which he was approaching the ocean, he would find himself as nothing more than a bloody stain on the ocean floor.

Such was his life.

* * *

With gorgeous scarlet red hair that flowed freely and reached all the way to her waist, stern gray eyes that were firm and focused, a matching pair of steel-like diamond-shaped earrings and an unyielding gaze and thinned lips, Erza Scarlet, the Titania of Fairy Tail, was certainly not amused. Donning her infamous Heart Kreuz armor which obviously did nothing to hide her well-endowed chest, alongside a short blue skirt which ended above her thigh – not short enough to be considered indecent, but also not long enough to be considered sexy – and her knee-high combat boots, she was indeed a sight to behold.

Many have argued that her fashion sense – or lack of thereof – was one of the most unique features about the red-headed beauty.

Irrespective of which, Erza Scarlet had always been known for one other thing. She had always, as far as anyone could remember, stuck firmly to the rules. Due to her reputation as one of the most feared female mages of Fairy Tail, she had amassed a position as the Disciplinarian of the guild. In a guild with the likes of characters whose very presence embodies the advent of mass destruction and millions of Jewels worth of property destruction, there had to be someone available who could create order in the midst of such anarchy.

Of course, it was highly ironic in the sense that she could cause as much, if not much more damage than most of the guild members put together, as expected of her ranking as an S-Class Mage. With the exception of Natsu of course, The Salamander of Fairy Tail was on a whole different level of chaos and destruction.

It was in due respite, that Erza took on the position of the guild's disciplinarian, and truly became the "Titania" of Fairy Tail. She had become so feared and respected in that regard with her strict nature and near no-nonsense attitude, she always made sure to ensure the guild followed the moral code and conduct, and tried to be presentable, as the image of such a reputable guild would expect a mage from such a place like Fairy Tail to behave.

Nonetheless, her strictness and adherence to the rules were not all in the name of the guild, as she personally had sincere feelings for her guild members, which were more or less family to her, and all in all, what she did was mostly her on way of expressing her care and concern, so as to make sure they didn't get hurt.

Such as now, as she had barely completed a mission when she had heard the news from Mirajane, one of her guild-mates and close friends, that Natsu had gone off on another hair-brained scheme and idea of his, by stealing an S-Rank Quest and run off to complete it in an attempt to prove his strength.

Her eyebrow nearly twitched at the thought. What Natsu didn't understand was the fact that no one doubted his strength at all, what they all doubted was his maturity and ability to keep a level head – that was one of the major reasons he had not yet been promoted.

"Why do you want to go to that island…Ma'am!" a voice interrupted her thoughts, causing her already thinned lips to thin even further.

"Shut up and steer." She ordered calmly.

As of now, Erza had done a feat which most would consider impressive, even for a mage. She stood on a ship, which had an image of a pumpkin head sticking its tongue out and underneath it, a crossed fork and knife as its jolly ranger. And on that ship all around her, were various men of different sizes that strew about, either unconscious or in the process of groggily getting up from that state.

Yes, Erza Scarlet had indeed, defeated, and was currently commandeering a pirate ship. And of course the poor lad that was in control of the wheel, just so happened to be the captain.

In hindsight, the man should have realized being a pirate in a world full of powerful wizards who could instantaneously cause pandemonium and mayhem upon him should he ever cross their path or gain their ire was not going to be a lucrative business.

He was learning that first hand as he was being ordered to sail to an island which all boats or ships on the high seas avoided for various reasons.

"Give us a break here!" he quickly corrected himself "…please?" he would give anything to not have to go there.

"Galuna Island is cursed! Rumor has it that humans turn into demons on that island!" he uttered out quickly, hoping so dearly that it would be enough to convince the strong woman of her grave choice.

"I don't care." Her blunt tone echoed across the vast area of space known as the ocean.

And the Captain's hope plummeted to the depths of previously mentioned ocean.

"I am going to punish some rule breakers. That is all." The pirate Captain sweatdropped at the woman's blunt, uncaring tone and attitude, and was even more annoyed when members of his crew got up and began throwing her compliments.

"You're awesome!"

"Amazing!"

"We'll follow you anywhere ma'am!"

"Hurry." She stated brusquely.

"Aye' Sir!" was the unanimous response from the crew.

'Why me?' the captain reflected sadly. 'Well… if you can't beat them…' where his finishing thoughts as he decided to concede to the woman's wills and wishes. Unfortunately, he had a rather sudden distraction.

"Hey…" his thoughts were interrupted by the presence of a dark and rapidly approaching shadow which loomed over the ship "…what in the world is that?"

Erza and the rest of the pirates looked up towards the night sky, watching as an unidentified object spiraled towards their ship at with the ephemeral presence of gravity aiding the descent.

"It's a bird!" one pirate shouted.

"No, it's an airship!" another yelled.

"No you dolts, it's obviously a wabbit."

…

…

Silence reigned as everyone turned to look at the pirate who made the ludicrous statement.

"A wabbit… seriously?"

The man in question simply shrugged "Hey, I thought we were all playing 'make a stupid guess' and I won."

Erza simply gave a blank gaze at the pirate – unintentionally having the effect of making him sweat bullets – before shaking her head. Regardless of whatever it was, it was approaching them at a speed that would tear straight through the deck of the ship and go straight under, in which case, would lead to them all sinking to the depths of the freezing cold ocean floor. With her current goal of apprehending Natsu and his rag-tag group… such a scenario was not something that was in no way or form acceptable.

Channeling the inner energy which resided in the body of all wizards, Erza positioned her arms out as she prepared her technique.

"Requip: Tenrin no Yoroi!" she bellowed out, floating off the ground as her regular Heart Kreuz armor faded away with a brilliant burst of pristine white light, leaving her as bare as the day she was born but for a nanosecond, before she was engulfed in an entirely new ensemble.

In her new outfit, plated armor covered her chest, with a large metal flower over it and a large billowing skirt which contained metal plating in the upper area. The armor left little to the imagination as her neck and stomach are left uncovered, with the final equipment being the large metal wings which are made of individual blades and a wing-like earpiece.

The pirates stared in shock and awe, and of course, perverted gazes. Without hesitation, the Titania of Fairy Tail leaped up into the sky, creating a large gust of wind which almost blew the pirates on the ship away.

Squinting her eyes as she soared through wind pressure and resistance, ignoring the rush of the winds against her face, as her hair whipped around like wild vines, she was able to identify the object which was falling closer to her.

'Is that… a person?'

She was left with no further time for deliberation as she braced herself for impact, grunting as the full brunt of a human body slammed at her with the force of gravity's accelerated decent.

'Oof!' she was able to catch the figure, but had the unfortunate side effect of being sent plummeting towards the ship.

Increasing her magical energy, she let out a large grunt of effort as she righted herself in mid-air, merely seconds before she crashed into the deck, but instead ended up rolling across the wooded top deck of the ship, leaving several dents and cuts from her armor, before coming to a stop in a mangled pair of limbs.

Letting out a breath she herself did not know she was holding, she was finally able to analyze the person who had literarily fallen out of nowhere.

He was a tall, handsome boy that honestly would not be out of place in a doushinji magazine, he had jet black hair that was styled and spiked upwards and also possessed bangs or fringes resembling a crow's wings.

Erza, with her sharp and analytical mind was quick to notice that he wasn't burly or overly large, nor did he have the form of someone who had spent relentless hours in the gym to hone such muscles, rather the muscles felt like they had gotten that way from years and years of constant use practice and training, and as such he was more lean and had a body built for speed than strength.

The reason as to how she'd deduced such was also the reason of her current embarrassment. Her body was entwined with him, her legs where wrapped around his in an intimate manner, her body was under and she could feel his weight and the strength of his muscles on her form. Of course, what affected her most was his face, his face and lips hung close and his lips were mere inches away from hers.

Erza fought down the reddening of her cheeks as she stared into the face of the mysterious young man. His face, regardless of his state of unconsciousness was blank and impassive yet somehow being simultaneously serene and peaceful, and his features were refined as though chiseled finely from stone by a master artisan.

In a movement, she pushed the unconscious man gently off her, and took in several deep breaths to calm herself down.

"Who the hell is this?" one of the pirates asked rudely.

"Who cares 'bout who he is? I wanna know how in the world he got flying outta the sky!" another responded.

Erza scowled as she thought about the second comment. Re-quipping back to her normal Heart Kreuz armor in a burst of white light, she took a further observation of the figure.

He was dressed in gray kimono shirt with long sleeves and a high neck-line, long black ankle length tight pants, and a pair of black snug sandals. What caught her attention however, was the white wristbands which were filled to the brim with all sorts of strange writings and tattoos she couldn't understand or decipher. Oh, and let's not forget the long black cloak which doubled as a hoodie, or the fact that his left arm was wrapped in bandages from the elbow to the very tip.

Her first thought was that he was either an assassin or a mercenary of sorts, at least, from the way he was dressed, and from the tattoos and seals on his right arm.

At the very least, he didn't seem seriously injured whatsoever, which meant that it wouldn't take long for him to regain consciousness, so she could drill him with all manner of questions.

Erza sighed in annoyance once she realized that such an unexpected occurrence may have an effect on her mission to return Natsu, Lucy and Gray back to the guild… and of course pound the ignorant Dragonslayer's head for his hair-brained mistake. Honestly she expected such out of Natsu, but Lucy of all people, and then yet alone Gray? Those two were some of the most level headed people she knew and Gray was cool-headed in serious situations – no pun intended.

Behind her own steely view of her guild mates action and her sense of urgency to bring them to appropriate justice, a deep part of her still wished and hoped deeply that they were all safe, and that they didn't get into something way over their heads.

Turning back to the issue at hand, she realized that their unexpected guest had been taken below deck into one of the rooms to rest for the mean time, they would be able to question him better once he woke up. However, for now, it would be best to allow things run its course… she had a mission to complete.

* * *

_**In-between Realms**_

_**Spirit World**_

The Spirit King had been busy for the last couple of hours, and it had begun to grate on his nerves. Other than having to deal with issues such as Leo's disappearance, Ares's and Gemini's issues with harsh Celestial Mages, Taurus' constant acts of perversion on his fellow spirits and Aquarius's constant nagging about how terrible her current master was, and how she much she still missed the previous one… the Spirit King had just about had it.

That was until, he and everyone else in the spirit world had felt the massive surge of energy that went up in the human world, that and the sudden intrusion of a new figure on their plane of existence.

The figure possessed a form of energy that was not Eterno based, and irrespective of that, he seemed to be more at one with nature than anyone else. A blunt explanation of it was, he's aura felt highly similar to that of the most feared dark mage in existence, the major difference being the fact that his aura was more of a neutral gray than a pure 'dark'.

"What do you think was that?" he turned to the side, recognizing Aquarius's voice easily enough.

"I am not entirely sure myself." He responded in tone. They had all sensed the original surge, but that was their first and only clue, as the power levels sunk to way beyond their radar, and they would have to be within miles of any of them to sense him again.

On such a normal occasion, such an occurrence would not be enough to cause them worry, but as the Spirit King, he could feel the utmost reason as to why everyone was so worried about the upset of balance.

Whoever or whatever it was… he possessed a unique ability that no one, not a single soul in their plane of existence before him had possibly possessed.

'Whoever you are, whatever you are… how do you possess such an ability?!' the Spirit King's eyes narrowed in distaste.

"Aquarius" he commanded simply.

"Hai, my king."

"Inform the others to be on alert for this intruder, once you find him, inform me immediately, that is your top priority for now." He ordered sharply, his tone leaving no room for questions.

"As you command." The noble Spirit bowed and vanished in a blur of water vapor.

'It seems…' the king thought morbidly '…things are going to change from here on.'

* * *

_**Galuna Island**_

_**Shoreline/Beach**_

"Land ho!" a burly pirate echoed, Erza stood up from her sitting position on an empty barrel, walking towards the front of the ship as she observed the large Island which got closer and closer by the second. She could identify the large forest which dominated it, and saw quite a large number of different magical wildlife which inhabited the island.

Irrespective of which, what drew her attention the most was the large cylindrical dome which encompassed the entire island. The dome was suspended high above the island in the air, and possessed a purple tint which must have undoubtedly deviated the original color of the moon to the residents on that Island.

Erza immediately re-quipped her sword out from her pocket dimension and steadied herself. It was time to find some rule-breakers.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you are doing?"

Erza narrowed her eyebrows as she prepared to discipline the pirate who decided to mouth off to her, only to realize something was amiss.

Turning around, she got the shocker of her life when she noticed a very similar young man with black hair, who had held up the captain of the ship above his head by the scruff of his neck, and was gazing into the man's eyes with his own _glowing _red eyes.

Erza gripped her sword as she prepared to strike, as far as she was concerned, he had no right harassing any of the people that had helped save his life.

"Unhand him at once!" she ordered, her first and only warning.

The young man simply turned to look at her, his eyes which she could have sworn where glowing red earlier gazed into her brown orbs with a simple onyx black color.

It took Erza all her years of battle hardening and experience not to flinch at the intensity of his gaze. His eyes, those two vast orbs which have been described by men as the windows to the soul belied absolutely nothing. In them, no hate, no anger, no confusion, no emotion… they belied _absolutely _nothing! They were like a vast abyss of darkness which knew no beginning and knew no end.

'_Just who is this person…?_' the red head wondered to herself '_I can't sense a single drop of magical energy in him at all! There's something there… but it's not magic… I've never sensed anything of the sort in my life_.'

"Hn." Was the young man's response as the effortlessly tossed the captain across the deck with but a flick of his wrist. The captain crashed into five more pirates, thankfully, they were able to break his fall, at the price of their own consciousness.

Erza grit her teeth at his careless manhandling of the pirate captain. "Unforgivable! Is that how you treat the people who aided in your survival?" she questioned angrily, she was also tempted to attack him out of sheer principle.

"I have no sympathy for the lowly bottom-feeders of the oceans…" Erza noted that his voice was calm, mellow and had an almost icy feel to it, as though it was smooth, cold and slippery at the same time.

"…but you're obviously not a pirate."

The Titania's eyes widened as much as she could once she heard his voice whisper _behind her ear!_ Her eyes only then noticed that there was no one standing in the direction of where she was looking, the man had seemingly vanished from his previous position, there was no blur, no afterimage, no sound, not even a single footstep – it was simply logic, one second he was there, the next he wasn't.

'_Impossible!' _she thought almost immediately, as her body twisted efficiently, and as she instinctively swung her sword in an arc behind her, motivated by the sudden shock and burst of adrenaline.

_CLANG!_

A shockwave of air erupted from the point of impact, creating a spherical burst of wind that travelled outwards at top speed, blowing away some of the spectating pirates, and echoing all around the Island's shoreline.

'_Impossible…! There's no way…' _Erza could barely hide the gob smacked expression of amazement on her face, as her pupils shook in barely restrained terror. As right in front of her, her sword was held firmly in place by a single, extended _phalange_. _'…He blocked my sword strike… with his finger?!_'

True to the feat, the young man stood with nothing more than his index finger stretched out to use as a defensive mechanism against the full brunt of Erza's attack.

The tall young man still had a blank expression on his face, but hidden subtly, she could detect a smug grin behind his collected demeanor. Erza frowned as she pried away her blade and jumped back to gain distance from the cloaked stranger.

'_He didn't just do that to show off… he did it as a demonstration…' _Erza analyzed sharply. The man had escaped away from her sight and re-appeared behind her so fast, that regardless if the fact that she had her sights on him the entire time, she could barely even notice him move. If he had wanted to, he could have killed her without her ever realizing what happened.

Then he followed up by blocking her sword strike with a single finger, indicating as a demonstration of physical strength, Erza knew this because she was one of the strongest females in Fairy Tail, and she trained her physical strength enough each day so that she could slash through steel with her sword strikes. Therefore, the amount of physical prowess one needed to actually catch one of her swings was devastating, but to simply stop one of her sword strikes out cold in its tracks? With a finger of all things?

That, was insane.

"For now, I have three questions." He started slowly, leaning against the hull of the ship as he closed his eyes. "Who are you?" Question one. "Where am I?" question two "…And why are we heading to an island with so much demonic energy?"

And in a second, the last question spurned Erza to recall what she had come to the island for in the first place. _'Demonic energy? Damn it Natsu!'_

In a flash, she ignored the young man and dashed off the boat.

* * *

Lucy Heartfilia felt that she had led a somewhat decent life, if rather short. She had got to complete her dream of joining Fairy Tail, had got to meet Natsu, the guild, and of course everyone else who had inspired her in one way or another.

Her only regret was truly, the pain that her death would cause everyone. That… and the fact that she had to die in the most pathetic way possible, and this time around, Natsu wasn't going to magically spring up and help her.

As the giant, flying green rodent affectionately named Angelica lunged at her with the full mass of its body, she knew that there was no were to run, and no way to dodge. Especially as she had used up the last of her magical energy summoning up all her celestial spirits and then having no choice to use a forced gate closure on said spirits – she was finally out of juice.

Closing her eyes and residing herself to her fate, she waited to feel the overwhelming weight crush her bones to paste.

_CRASH!_

Lucy stiffened suddenly when she heard the crash, but could not feel any form of physical harm. Only to slowly open her eyes and observe in awe.

She was no longer on the floor, but rather was being carried bridal style by a figure, her first instinct was to call out 'Natsu' but then froze once she realized Natsu didn't have black hair.

He was dressed in gray kimono shirt with long sleeves and a high neck-line, long black ankle length tight pants, and a pair of black snug sandals, he had jet black hair that was jelled and spiked upwards and also possessed bangs or fringes oddly reminiscent of a crow's wings.

His cold face was putting Gray's easily to shame as it was refined and spotless, and easily looked like he could compete and win Sorcerer's Weekly most handsome mage tournament.

As much as she wanted to, Lucy could barely keep herself from blushing and stuttering like a school-girl. "W-who are y-you?" she managed to utter out.

What she was not expecting, however, was for the handsome teen to unceremoniously drop her on the floor like a sack of potatoes.

Lucy had a tick mark on her forehead in slight annoyance, but before she could comment on it, the presence of an ominous shadow behind her froze her in her tracks.

"Erza!" she yelled in delight and surprise, until remembering one little fact. They were not on a sanctioned mission, and there was only one possible reason Erza would be there. She gulped slightly.

On second thought, perhaps getting crushed to death by a giant green rodent was not such a bad way to go.

* * *

It had been a very odd day for one young man. First, he had fallen from the sky, with absolutely no memory of what had happened or could have happened that would have sent him spiraling from the sky on such a dangerous descent. Second, he had woken up on a pirate ship… a goddamned pirate ship, him! The preposterousness of it all was probably the only thing stopping him from assassinating every single last one of those pirates. Only to stop once he realized there was a beautiful swordswoman there who could probably provide him with more answers and in more detail than any pirate.

Needless to say, he had already come to the possibility of the fact that he was nowhere near the elemental nations, as the distinct lack of chakra in the air, or in the bodies of people was more than just alarming.

Basically, as far as he knew, every living thing in the world had a chakra network, regardless of whether it was active or dominant you still possessed it. Upon realizing, however, that he could not sense any being with chakra for miles, yet alone anyone with a chakra network, it was his first clue that something had gone horribly wrong.

Times like this, he wished he possessed the Byakugan as well, just so he could give a large scan and layout of the land that would enable him to pick up his tracks and begin understanding this new society as a large.

He had followed the mysterious red-headed woman not because she intrigued him, which she did, but mostly because he needed answers, and she had an aura of power, experience and a wealth of knowledge about her.

He had not, of course, expected to end up saving a girl that was about to be crushed by a giant, fat green rat in a pink dress. He felt his eye twitch from the simple absurdity of that sentence. This world was suddenly starting to rank up to his in sheer levels of insanity alone.

He didn't know exactly what possessed him to commit such an act – something his blonde teammate usually did without thinking – but on noticing how she was about to be crushed and how the red-headed armored woman was desperately trying to make it there in time, but was to slow, his body seemed to have acted of its own accord.

If Naruto, Kakashi, or hell even Suigetsu or Jugo saw him do that, he'd _never _live it down. They'd pester him about that fact for all of eternity, until his soul was gone and immortal, even then, he'd never hear the end of it. That was exactly why he had dropped the girl on the ground seconds after swooping her away to safety.

He didn't have a damn hero complex, and he wasn't Naruto damn it!

He wanted to interrupt once he noticed the red-headed woman berate the other blonde woman for something that neither interested him nor was any of his business, but simply decided to keep a single ear on the conversation.

Until he saw a cat.

He saw a talking, _flying, _freaking _blue _cat – with a white underbelly and white tail tip – that could stand on its bloody hind legs and had angel-like white wings. He wanted to call bullshit and simply point out the fact.

Alas, he was an Uchiha, and such an act would go against his Clan's 'approved' code of conduct.

So instead, he settled for simply twitching his left eye continuously, in a way he hoped was subtle. Basically, he had no problem with a talking cat, he had seen enough of those back in his younger days, what surprised him was the fact that the cat had the ability to fly.

Such ability, coupled with the natural speed, flexibility and dangers of a cat's sharp claws would make it the most revered summon in existence. A ghost of a shudder nearly came to him once he imagined Tora the Cat, possessing the ability to fly.

That damned demon cat was already the nightmare of each and every Genin team that had graced Konohagakure no Sato, with the ability to fly added to the creature's repertoire, it would be the hardest damned thing to catch in the world, and they'd probably upgrade that mission to a B-Rank standing.

"So who's this, Erza?" the blonde girl uttered nervously in an attempt to bring up small talk as she was tied up securely with ropes by the red-headed woman.

"You may call me Uchiha Sasuke…" he stated in a bored but somewhat agitated tone, as his patience was finally beginning to wear off, "…and my patience is limited."

He turned to stare at the woman who he had finally identified as Erza.

"I want information." He stated bluntly "I want to know-" the dark-haired teen froze suddenly mid-sentence as his eyes narrowed nearly imperceptibly.

Turning his gaze, he stared hardly at a bush of shrubs which were not that far off from their position. Without uttering a word, he vanished from sight, and appeared in front of the shrubs, swinging his hand back, he slashed them all in one motion, sending leaves and grass soaring into the air.

"Eh? What was that all about?" Lucy wondered aloud, her eyes widening in somewhat hidden shock as the teen literally vanished from sight at speeds she'd barely been able to follow.

"He just vanished!" uttered Happy in a surprised tone, leaving Erza to narrow her eyes as she stared hard on the spot which he had stood previously.

This was the second time he'd done something like that, and it had only confirmed her previous suspicion that he indeed was not using any magic to move that fast – it was pure, unrelenting speed. So far, she'd done her best to ignore the man, but she'd also kept a very close watch on him… as soon as she completed her task, she'd have a word with this 'Uchiha' person.

The brunette muttered something under his breath before calmly walked back to the two Fairy Tail wizards, with a contemplating look on his features.

'_There was obviously a spy in those bushes… how did they get away from my notice so quickly_?' he mused to himself.

Sasuke wore a small smirk on his features, as he glanced back to the women. It seemed that this world was going to be highly entertaining.

* * *

_**Galuna Island**_

_**Village – Night Time**_

Sasuke lay high on a tree branch as he watched the festivities go on. For the most part, he'd done nothing but gather information about this world he was in from the villagers, though the information was limited due to the anti-social nature of the village, and the fact that they had not communicated with the mainland continent in years. What he was able to gather though, did match up with his suspicions. This world was named Earthland, and so far he was on the border of the Kingdom of Fiore. No one, absolutely no one seemed to even have an inkling of a clue as to where or what the Elemental Nations was.

Apparently, from his knowledge, limited as it was, he'd realized that no one had chakra in this world, but apparently they used magic. He had assumed it to be a joke of some sort at first, until he realized that they were absolutely serious about the fact, and even went to point out the tradition of Wizards who joined guilds and took on quests.

Thankfully, it had been easy enough to relate to the Shinobi System back at Konoha, with mages and missions possessing ranks which went up from D-rank, which was the lowest, to S – Rank, which was the highest. And from what he'd glimmered out from the mages he'd met, this was an S-Rank mission, however, the people who had taken it up were not S-rank mages themselves, and in doing so they had broken the guild rules, which was why Erza, the red-headed mage he met earlier had been sent out to retrieve and reprimand them.

Sasuke nearly laughed at the notion of this being an S-Rank mission, - _nearly, _being the keyword, as such an action would be unbefitting of an Uchiha – as back in Konoha, such a mission would have been considered a C or B-Rank top. This was the reason why Sasuke hadn't felt the need whatsoever to intervene in any fight or combat activity, all he did was observe them from afar to get a rough estimation of everyone's skills and abilities.

He'd taken the whole 'the villagers are demons' thing without batting an eyelash, as far as he was concerned, they were normal run of the mill humans in all but name, because he'd seen what _real _demons were capable of, and this people could not stack up to that.

What did amuse him however, was watching Erza and the pink haired teen called Natsu send out a spear that soared so high into the sky and shattered the barrier over the village – he'd noticed the barrier with his Sharingan, but wondered how they would get rid of it. Then Erza had gone on to explain how the residue from some magic spell had not affected their bodies, but their minds.

Of course, that was when he met _that _woman.

"_Amusing, I thought I was the only spectator of this show." Sasuke quipped, causing a short masked man that stood hidden on a tree-branch to nearly falter in his steps._

"_Oh…? And just who are you?" the man remarked calmly, but Sasuke could detect the hint of surprise and shock in his voice. "You are obviously no Fairy Tail mage, and I can't sense any magical power from you."_

"_You are not worthy of gaining the knowledge of my identity." He stated slowly, "After all, you never gave me yours." He retorted calmly._

"_Oh… fascinating. You may call me-" He started slowly, eyes not moving away from Sasuke for even a second._

"_You are mistaken." Sasuke interrupted his dialogue sharply, his smirk on his features "If you believe that I actually care enough to know your name."_

_The masked man bristled in anger at being brushed off so easily "You brat! I'd love to do nothing more than wipe that annoying smirk off your face permanently."_

"_You bore me with your sentiments." The Uchiha stated, his expression matching his statement "And I grow tired of speaking to you true such a callous disguise."_

"_What are you implying…?" the short masked man suddenly grew nervous as his statement hit a little close to home._

"_Do not play games with me, woman."_

_That, got a visible reaction as the 'man' became slack-jawed for a second, before trying to play it cool. "I-I have no idea as to what you're talking about."_

"_Then allow me to enlighten you."_

_Zalty's eyes widened, as he heard the voice come from behind him, and before he could turn back or jump away, he felt a firm and grasp his shoulder._

"_**Genjutsu: Kai!**__"_

_Zalty watched in shock as the well-constructed disguise and transformation placed faded away into nothing, revealing someone else entirely._

_She was a relatively young woman in her twenties, with flowing black hair, brown eyes, and a highly attractive figure. She wore a white kimono top, which had only one sleeve on the left side, along with a long yellow sash to keep it in place, and wore a matching skirt which stopped mid-thigh level. The outfit was completed with a small belt-like choker which was placed on her neck._

_The woman, now revealed, cursed slightly as he had completely blown her cover, and revealed her true identity. She jumped back from him, further into the trees to hide, as his speed had taken her completely by surprise._

"_Amusing. Do you think you can actually hide from me?" she heard his voice echo all around her "If I wished to fight you, you'd already be dead."_

_The daughter of Ul froze stiff as his voice whispered solemnly in her ear, once again, proving his ability to sneak up on her undetected. Only this time, she found herself completely unable to move._

'_I-I can't move! Why can't I move?' a sudden sense of fear welled up in her stomach as she realized she was defenseless, her magic was useless if she couldn't move a finger._

"_What do you want from me?" she spoke calmly, her voice not inflecting the fear she felt within. As she knew that she was an attractive woman, and in such a scenario, any person with enough common sense would figure out what they could possibly want from her._

_She felt herself spun around, only to meet with two glowing red orbs for eyes, she gasped as she couldn't help but stare in awe at the most beautiful, yet most terrifying eyes she'd ever seen, glowing red with what resembled a pinwheel encompassed within a biohazard symbol, rotating slowly in a calm mesmerizing manner._

_Before she could utter a word, he'd closed his eyes, as they returned to a normal onyx black. "Hn." He said simply, before placing his hand on the side of her cheek, and looking at her with a smirk "Next time, when attempting to spy on someone, be sure to remember to cover your tracks, you almost made it too easy…" he remarked lazily._

_Ultear blanched as he brazenly admitted that he'd been spying on her while she'd been spying on the Fairy Tail team, only to fail to hide the blush on her face from his touch, and from the proximity of their faces. 'Who is this man?' she wondered as her heartbeat raced sharply, his stern gaze felt as though he could see into the very depths of her soul, and still finding herself unable to move, she felt naked and defenseless in his presence. The man simply turned away from her and walked three steps, before vanishing in a whirl of leaves._

_As Ultear regained control of her body, she heard his voice echo around her "Till next time, Ultear."_

_Ultear's eyes widened as she realized that she'd never told him her name, and even more so as she touched her cheek, only to realize that her previously aching bruise delivered by the Dragonslayer's attack was gone._

"Uchiha! Get down from there we need to talk." Sasuke was interrupted from his memories by the sharp command, and glanced down to find Erza staring up at him. Apparently he'd been lost so deep in thought, the festivities had ended and everyone was retiring for the night.

"Hn." He grunted in annoyance "If you wish to talk, then climb up here yourself." He muttered under his breath, but just loud enough for her to hear.

Seriously, two years ago if someone had spoken to him in such a manner, he'd have slit their throat just out of principle. Now, it happened almost all the time because Naruto had made him softer than ever – though ironically it mostly happened with women.

A bittersweet smirk came to his face as he recalled Team Seven's numerous attempts to get him out of his anti-social shell which he'd been trapped in for years. At times, he found himself returning to his old habits, but whenever he did, Naruto would be there, waiting to prank him as punishment. And of course there was Sakura, who'd simply give that deceptively sweet smile that promised something else entirely.

Sasuke's smirk vanished as he recalled how the Fourth Shinobi World War had affected everyone, some positively, some negatively. It also reminded him bitterly of how his brief relationship with Sakura ended faster than even he'd thought possible. Despite their heated night of passion, in which had actually created his attraction to his teammate, their relationship just was unable to hold together.

He still had his goal of restoring the Uchiha Clan, but it was a pipedream at best, and he knew it. Not everyone was happy about the fact that he'd been pardoned for his crimes, actions and aid in the Fourth War notwithstanding, he could feel the very essence of the people he met and the shinobi he encountered, and _none_ of them were pleased with his existence or presence.

He was a harsh reminder of the fact that the war had been started by and orchestrated by an Uchiha – a _single _Uchiha. Some had pushed the blame on to him, while others acted like they were near a mine-field around him, fearing that he would start another war simply if they gained his ire.

As such, he had become a wanderer like Naruto's late sensei, he had travelled the world, explored the seas, the oceans, in his own way of finding peace. He was grateful towards Naruto for breaking his Curse of Hatred, the vile curse that had been placed on each and every Uchiha, but he also had to be careful, lest someone or something give him enough hate to regenerate the curse's effects. It had been the same with his ancestor Madara Uchiha, who had lost the Curse when Hashirama was willing to end his life as retribution for that of Madara's younger brother, but Madara regained the curse when the members of the Uchiha clan turned their backs on him.

It also bitterly reminded him of how he had arrived here in the first place.

Sasuke blinked as he suddenly felt the familiar lore of gravity taking hold, only to twitch his eye at the sheer level of madness the red-headed woman would go to get her way.

Effortlessly jumping down, he didn't even blink when the tree he was sleeping on earlier tumbled to the side, and landed with an ear-shattering crash.

"You didn't have to cut down the tree." He stated blankly.

"It was more effective." She replied with a straight face, as though something of the sorts was normal for her.

Sasuke wouldn't actually be surprised if it was normal. From what he'd gathered, this group was from the Wizard Guild known as Fairy Tail, it was renowned world over, but also had the most eccentric characters you could ever meet.

'_Naruto would have loved it there.' _He thought absently. Apparently, Erza was the only S-ranked wizard on the Island, and was known as the "Titania" of Fairy Tail. She'd seemingly got that title for being the strongest female in the guild.

How had he gained that information? Let's just say, he wasn't gazing at Ultear's eyes simply because she was sexy.

Erza, on the other hand, had a lot of questions simply lining up in her mind, but the most prominent one sprung up first "How did you end up falling out of the sky?"

"…I don't recall." He replied "My memory of that incident is still unclear." Which was actually the truth. He had no idea as to how he'd ended up falling out of the sky, over the ocean.

She stared at him with a gaze that would have intimidated lesser men, but Sasuke had faced down much worse than what she was giving him, and he didn't even bat an eyelash. Rather, he found it amusing.

"What's so funny?" she asked, eyebrows furrowing in distaste.

Sasuke contemplated, whether or not he should answer. He was about to give out a 'hn' when he froze, and looked around out of instinct, recalling the times a certain blonde shinobi had blasted him with glitter and orange paint for his one-line anti-social responses.

Thankfully, he recalled that he was in another dimension entirely. Regardless of which, Naruto's 'rehabilitation pranks' had instilled in him the desire to become less anti-social, for the sake of self-preservation and now it had become a subconscious action.

He could almost imagine the blonde grinning ear to ear in satisfaction.

"Nothing." He stated simply, but by the look she was giving him, he could tell that she didn't believe him, and more importantly that she didn't trust him.

Not that he could blame her, hell he would be distrustful of himself if he was in her shoes, he did _fall_ out of the sky after all.

"You have my gratitude for saving my friend earlier…" she stated brusquely, staring at him harder than before "…but I need to know what your intentions are."

"My intentions?" Sasuke smirked, this was certainly amusing. "Other than getting off this island, I don't believe I have any other plans" – _that you need to know of_. He added mentally, it wasn't like she could force it out of him.

"I have no reason to attack any of you, my goal is simply to reach the main continent. That is all."

"I see." She seemed calmed by his declaration, but was still somewhat wary of him. "We leave tomorrow after dawn. Don't be late."

"Hn." He grunted out, only realizing what he'd said after he said it, _old habits die hard I guess_.

Slowly walking away, he couldn't help but think of the possibilities that awaited him.

This may not have been the Elemental Nations, but here, Sasuke was an unknown factor, here, no one knew of the Uchiha Clan or of the terror that was Uchiha Madara, and he had a relatively unknown name. He could start building his life back up from the little broken pieces and fragments, and he had an entire clean slate to work with.

For he knew, he just knew, that even if he'd found a way to return… things wouldn't change, and very few people would welcome his presence, no one wanted the Uchiha Clan to return, as the clan, though powerful, was the most deadly in existence.

In this relatively new world however, the sky was the limit – so to speak.

And it was time, Earthland would be shaken up by the arrival of an unexpected visitor, Uchiha Sasuke, the Last Living Uchiha had – with or without knowing – completely disrupted events with his existence and changed the dynamic of the world.

"Now," Sasuke muttered, his eyes warping from onyx black to the feared red "…it's time for this world…" the red eyes with three tomoe warped once more, "…to meet the true might…" the pinwheel biohazard symbol switched and turned, as his left eye turned from red to purple. The eye had a dot in the dead center, contracted rings, with three tomoes on both the first and second rings.

"… of an Uchiha."

His existence had and would change the dynamic of the world.

Be it for better, or be it for worse.

* * *

**A/N: And... that's a wrap! Anyways, finally felt awesome to let this all out. Since most fics in this cross-over genre have a Naruto who is so desperate to find a way to return to Konoha, i decided to do the Anti-thesis. A Sasuke, who has no desire to return home, due to nothing being there for him in the first place. Finally, something slightly original eh?**

**Before any of you ask me if Sasuke is going to join Fairy Tail, my response is simple. Look at the title and figure it out.**

**So... this is a Anti-hero/Anti-villain Sasuke... not sure which yet, and he's going to be slightly different from the one some of my Readers know from The Devil's Dark Knight.**

**Anyway...**

**Read and Review, please, with constructive criticism appreciated as well as ideas or suggestions, also grammar corrections, as I've mentioned earlier, I'm not English, and English isn't my first language... so i'd like to know if i'm improving or not.**

**Now... to get on to my other Fairy Tail story... and my Legend of Korra fic... expect updates within the week/month.**

**R&amp;R!**

**Illusionary Reality, out!**

**Ja Ne!**


	2. Melody of The Shinobi

**Discaimer: I do not own Naruto or Fairy Tail. I hereby challenge Kishimoto and Mashima to a Ramen Eating contest for the rights of their shows, and for their pride as Japanese!**

**A/N: Anyway... you guys really psyhed me up with the sheer amount of reviews I got from the last chapter, so I decided to post another one earlier than intended. You guys Rock! Special Thanks goes to Danish78 for his motivational and inspiring review, and to all you readers for your comments and input. Without further ado, I give you...**

**x~~~~~~~x**

**The Melody of the Wanderer**

**x~~~~x**

"Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad."  
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

**Chapter 1**

**Melody of the Shinobi**

_**Fiore**_

_**The Streets of Magnolia**_

The trip back to the guild was largely uneventful for some, and a complete bore for others. Natsu had been out of commission for the entire Ship ride, his weakness against all forms of transportation taking out all the fun in his journey. Gray was still healing from his wounds in his fight against Lyon, and Lucy was simply overjoyed at being the only one to gain anything out of the mission, a new celestial spirit.

For the entirety of the ride, Lucy and Gray had barely spoken to the mysterious newcomer who stayed on his own for the most part, simply staring out to the ocean without a seeming care in the world. Though, he had been cordial enough to introduce himself, and get their names in return, he hadn't said or done anything much else.

They had left Galuna Island after refusing the seven million jewel prize, simply taking the key as a form of gratitude – on Erza's demand and to everyone else's dismay.

"Man… but all that work and one key is all we get?" Gray muttered to himself.

"And it was a full blown S-Class Quest too!" Happy quipped in, flying beside the Ice-Make mage.

Sasuke could barely prevent himself from snorting in disbelief.

"It wasn't a proper job." Erza added, her eyes finally straying away from the mysterious brunette "This much is just about right."

"Yup! No complaints." Lucy added with a gleeful grin plastered on her face, being the only one who actually gained anything from the treacherous trip.

"You're the only one it's any use to Lucy!" the cat grumbled before smirking, at least, smirking as much as one could imagine a flying blue cat smirk.

Sasuke had still not gotten over the concept.

"Let's sell it!" he suggested, watching as Lucy glanced back at him in apprehension.

"No way!" she declared "There are only twelve of the golden Zodiac gate keys in the whole world! They're super-duper rare!"

This did somewhat pique Sasuke's interest, as he was still not exactly a world expert on Earthland and its mysteries.

Natsu had a skeptic look on his face as he glanced at Lucy and finally added to the conversation. "You mean that cow and maid?"

Lucy bristled slightly at the comment, becoming somewhat defensive "As I progress my Spirits will get way stronger!"

For some reason Sasuke doubted that. As far as he was concerned, her strength would never be unleashed if all she did was summon creatures to fight for her. In the Elemental Nations, the closest in comparison would be the Puppeteers of Sunagakure no Sato, while their puppets were dangerous on their own, holding immense power, it was easy enough to defeat them due to the fact that they were next to nothing without their puppets.

Sasuke had learned that specialization in one single district would get you killed instantly if you were to go against your perfect antithesis. He could use this to his advantage though, as he realized that most mages only knew how to perform one particular type of magic.

He didn't have such restrictions.

"So what's the key you got this time?" Gray asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"The Archer, Sagittarius." She stated with a lopsided grin and a thumbs up.

"Eh? Isn't that half-man half-horse?" The student of Ul looked somewhat more interested.

"No, I think it's the other way around…" Lucy said with an afterthought.

Sasuke was beginning to grow bored and tired of this conversation, he'd wondered why he'd decided to follow them to their guild building in the first place. Well, other than the fact that he didn't have money, a job, or a clue as to where in the world he currently was, or basically anything else about how this Earthland operated other than the basics…

The Uchiha was suddenly recalling why he'd followed them. Alas, he didn't plan on staying to long with the group. The constant stare he could feel prickling at the back of his neck was from the Titania, it was obvious that she did not trust him for one second, and she was not going to let him out of her sight.

Sasuke did find it amusing though, that she'd never once turned her back to him throughout the entire day. As if she could actually stop him if he decided to kill her.

"Easygoing aren't we?" Erza inquired, her voice easily ending their conversation.

"You haven't forgotten that you'll be punished when we get back have you?"

With her simple declaration, their happy-go-lucky attitude was brought to a forceful halt.

Sasuke had to suppress a sigh of relief, he'd barely withstood their senseless chatter. He paused and mused once more, recalling the fact that they'd apparently gone on an S-Rank mission without permission.

It was a reminder of the fact that this world was absolutely nothing like Konoha. Basically, he determined that with the exception of Erza, they were all Genin level at the very least – Lucy barely counting as an Academy student. If a group of Genin, actually stole an S-Rank mission, the Kage would barely have to bother about punishing them afterwards.

You can't punish a dead man after all. There was no maybe, no perhaps, no someway… the fact was that a Genin could not survive an S-Rank mission, period. Hell, Chunin and Jonin could barely survive S-Rank missions.

This was what cemented his view point of the difference in power between this world and his.

Sasuke's mouth became a thin line. He realized he'd been comparing everything and everyone in this dimension to his previous, irrespective of the fact that he'd made the decision to try and re-start things here with a clean slate.

Of course it was to be expected, he was human after all, it's not like he could just cut of all strings and attractions between his previous world and move on.

He, of all people knew, that he had always had problems moving on. With his several years grudge and promise of vengeance against Itachi and against Konoha being prime examples of his inability to easily let go to the past.

Of course, starting on a clean slate was going to be somewhat impossible for a reason. After all, as he was once a shinobi, he would always be a shinobi.

He contemplated on what he would do now though, he'd obviously become a 'Wizard' and take on quests and missions for the thrill of a good battle and a challenge, but other than that, what lay ahead? He'd already decided one thing though. No guilds. He wasn't going to sit around and waste his time chatting up other mages for the fun of it, nor did he see the reason or purpose to fall under the thumb of both the Guild Master _and _the notorious magic council. He'd just left a career working as an agent of a government military; he didn't feel all that determined to jump right into another one, albeit indirectly.

For now, Sasuke's goal was simple. Find the strongest people in this new world, every last one of them, and challenge them to see where he stood in the totem pole. The whole 'no-killing' thing kind of annoyed him somewhat, so he wondered could find out if there was anyone in this world that would actually be capable of making him go all out.

Back in the Elemental Nations, only Naruto could actually give him a challenge in a fight when he was serious, and their 'spars' had all permanently changed the landscape in one form or another, which meant he'd have to find some way to tone it down against minor threats, else he end up killing people without even intending to, and become a major criminal in this world.

Sasuke had no intentions of returning to 'World's Most Wanted' status, as the last time he had done it, he knew what he was getting into. But here, in a relatively unknown world with unknown dangers, people, and powers? That would be going on a very high spectrum of the stupid meter.

The Uchiha almost smacked himself in annoyance when he realized he'd been comparing his old world and this one, _again_. Apparently it was going to take some time to get used to.

"We're home!" the brunette was drawn from his thoughts by a loud shout from the Pink-haired boy known as Natsu.

"This is Fairy Tail! Come on in!" he gestured towards the Uchiha.

Sasuke simply raised an eyebrow at the eccentric teen. So far, he'd been the only one that he had not sensed even a single drop of hostility or suspicion from. He was either extremely trustful… or extremely dense.

Sasuke gave the verbal equivalent of a shrug "Hn." As he walked into the building, he prepared himself for anything and everything possible, as this world had proven – in his relatively short stay – that the impossible was possible.

Yes, he still hadn't entirely gotten over the flying blue cat.

As Sasuke took his first steps into the guild, he couldn't help but feel just a little bit underwhelmed.

The Guild was nothing overly special, no flying creatures or magical artifacts lined up, no mysterious spooky corner or old women with mystical orbs drawing you closer to gaze into the abyss of the future or the lore of the past. No people on magical broomsticks with silly names like Firebolt flying over the place.

Basically, the Guild looked nothing more than a sort of bar or pub, with chairs and tables all lined up, nice wooden floors, a counter with numerous alcoholic beverages on display, a notice board with a list of requests pinned on it and then a stairway which led to the second floor, which as far as Sasuke could tell, contained nothing more than a bunch of more job requests.

In short, the Guild was normal and plain looking as could be.

He'd made his deduction and analysis within the first three seconds he'd stepped into the guild.

Simultaneously and instinctively though, his mind had automatically located the fastest escape points in the room should in case a fight break out, and scanned anything that could be used as a potential weapon within his mental database. With that, he'd observed four windows, three doors, and sixteen glass bottles, numerous chairs which could deal concussive force, a set of cutlery and the pins on the notice board.

Less than six seconds had passed since he'd began and completed the analysis of the room's contents.

Walking forward, straying behind Erza's little group of delinquents, he made a third and final observation of the Guild.

His expertly trained eyes darted from place to place as he observed the members of the Guild, there was a tall, bulky man of nothing less than six-foot who had spiky white hair and a scar over his eye, the man wore a blue muscle-shirt and a pair of black jean pants.

There was a woman who to Sasuke's slight surprise, seemed completely comfortable wearing nothing more than a blue lacy bra and a pair of brown pants with a pink belt, she had brown hair and matching eyes and wore a loosed open-toed sandals. He'd noticed her mostly because of the fact that she was gulping down a whole barrel of what seemed to be liquor without breaking a single stride, stopping only once to take a breath of air. Sasuke had to divert his eyes sharply, lest his god-damned sharp vision took note of her rather voluptuous breast size as they jiggled or the blush on her face from the alcohol, or the nipples which were visible through her –

Sasuke's left eye twitched in annoyance. Too late it seemed. God damned hormones.

His eyes darted across the room once more spotting a man with a green shirt, brown hair rolled into a large bun and a lit cigarette in his mouth as he had a lazy expression in his eyes. Nothing noteworthy or interesting whatsoever in that fellow, Sasuke absently thought, before his eyes sharply blurred to another figure, a man with blue hair, and a slight stubble, who didn't seem worth his attention, and also a teen with blonde-orange hair, a pair of sunglasses shielding his eyes, a green jacket with an orange inner-shirt and a pair of black jean pants.

Sasuke closed his eyes once he was done with the primary observation of most of the characters currently present in the guild.

There was of course the Artist painting in a secluded corner, and most importantly the lovely barmaid which stood comfortably at the reception of the Guild.

She was a slim young woman of below average height. She had long white hair which curled slightly at the ends, with two bangs framing her face and reaching down to her chest. Sasuke noted the most distinctive trait of her hairstyle, which was a short upward ponytail tied upwards. She had large baby blue eyes and a curvy, voluptuous body to match her well-endowed chest.

She wore a sleeveless, ankle-length maroon dress with a pleated skirt. The chest of the outfit was adorned by a large pink bow and also had similar colored trimmings which nicely framed the ample neckline, acting somewhat like straps. She finished up the simple but elegant look with high-heeled shoes which matched her dress, and accessorized with a small chain necklace with a blue oval gem attached to it, and a bracelet made of white flowers circling her right wrist.

Sasuke had taken time to analyze the woman more closely and more in depth than he had done for anyone else in the Guild… he wasn't entirely sure why he'd done so, other than the woman's cheery visage and persona, she didn't seem all that noteworthy.

Except for the part where he could feel the latent hidden power within her, which matched up with the Titania herself, that, and the somewhat _demonic _feel he could sense.

Now, Sasuke was no Uzumaki with their wide-range ability of sensing and detecting both power and magical energy, he was, however quite adept at being able to garner people's personalities and surface thoughts from a glance.

His Sharingan allowed him to pick up on the tiniest facets of the human body language which one would otherwise ignore or would go by unnoticed. The little things such as a nervous laugh here, or a twitch of the lips, the contraction of the eyes, a curl of the hair… it all added up to a meaning which was not portrayed on the surface.

It did surprise him however, to note what her surface thoughts reflected, and just how deeply it varied from her outward bubbly personality.

"Um… are you okay?" he almost flinched in surprise when he heard the woman speak to him.

The Uchiha would have sworn out loud if it wasn't against his nature as an Uchiha to do so, as he realized he had been hyper-focusing on his analysis, he'd barely noticed when time had passed, and now it had appeared to every single person in the guild that he had been staring at the barmaid for several minutes in silence.

Of course he wasn't stupid, he'd realized the outright connotations of his predicament almost instantly.

"He llllikes you!" Sasuke could feel his eye twitch in annoyance as the blue cat flew by the barmaid's ear and rolled his tongue in an annoying but elaborate manner to sum up the average man's perception of the incident.

Of course with the Guild being as silent as it was before the feline had made the statement, it meant that he was heard as clear as day.

Of course the universe had to mock him with a flying abomination of bird and beast. Sasuke was really contemplating finding a way to kill the cat and make it look like a tragic accident.

To his credit though, the barmaid only smiled and laughed at the little pet, rubbing him on the back slightly.

"Don't make ridiculous statements like that Happy, you might annoy someone with your jokes." She teased the cat affectionately, before placing gently on the table.

"Aye!"

With that one response, the awkward tension had diffused almost as fast as it had been created.

Sasuke, for once felt… liberated? He was unsure of how exactly to feel, after all, he'd been so used to girls falling and fawning all over him in the Elemental Nations that he'd assumed it would be the same in this world… but it was completely unlike he'd expected.

He gave it a little bit of thought, was this scenario a good thing or a bad one?

"So you never really introduced yourself." The barmaid stated "I'm Mirajane Strauss, I'm currently the barmaid of the Guild. The Master isn't around right now, but if you'd like to join the guild I'd be happy to help you out." She chirpily added.

"My name is Uc- Sasuke. Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke had quickly come to terms with the realization that no one introduced themselves with their surname first in this dimension, and as such he didn't want to cause any confusion.

He moved forward towards the bar and pulled back the seat, before lazily plopping atop, eyes gazing at the sheer number of drinks available for purchase on display, and the sad realization that he couldn't purchase any for now because he was flat broke. Not really broke… just that his currency from the elemental nations was worth nothing more than paper to use and wipe ass here.

"So… Sasuke-san, anything you'd like?" she stated slowly, as she eyed the teen who had been staring at her so intensely earlier.

"Thank you, but I'm not hungry." He added calmly, propping his chin up against the counter. Alas, seconds later, his stomach growled loudly in protest, causing him to realize that his large intestine was not currently in agreement with his brain. It was only once the issue of food was brought up that Sasuke realized that he'd spent nearly three days straight without having a single meal in his stomach, having chosen to forgo the meal on Galuna Island, and haven not eaten a thing on the way back. He might have been a battle trained, war-hardened shinobi, but he was still human, and he needed food.

"Ah, that must be the sound of a full belly Sasuke-san. It's nice to know you're well fed." Her deceptively innocent smile was perfect enough to fool anyone, but Sasuke could just feel the sarcasm hidden within her angelic demeanor.

"It's a shame though, and there's this excellent cooked meal getting cold on the counter. Oh well…" she added sincerely.

Sasuke had nothing more to do than twitch his eyes once more in annoyance.

"I…" Sasuke started, his fingers grasping on the wooden counter hard enough to scrape off the plating as he struggled with his pride "…I don't have any money to buy a meal."

Sasuke blinked in surprised once Mirajane dropped a plate of steaming hot curried rice with grilled fish at the side, and a number of other appealing looking items that he could not recognize.

"I just said-" he never got anywhere far as he was silenced with a finger on the lips.

"Sasuke-san, Fairy Tail might not be the richest guild in the world, nor the most generous, but we're the type of people that would never sit down and watch when we can help make a difference." She declared calmly with a glint in her eyes as she spoke of Fairy Tail.

"For master once told me, 'All it takes in the world for the evil to succeed, is for the good to sit back and do nothing.'" She added with a smile.

Sasuke was tempted to say in a deadpan 'It's just a bowl of food, no need to get poetic about it.' But decided against it as he realized that she'd probably take it away from under his nose for being snarky, and he wasn't one to complain about someone else's generosity.

Regardless, his Uchiha pride had taught him to hate charity.

"Thank you." This was one of the few times the Uchiha could ever recall thanking anyone _sincerely_, for anything.

"I'll be sure to pay you back once I can." He added, as he had begun eating with a slight prayer of 'Itadakimasu'.

"I don't think you got the point Sasuke-san" Mirajane stated slightly in a deadpan "You don't have to pay me back."

"I know." He said slowly, as he paused his meal gazing into the blue eyes of the beautiful bartender "I don't have to. I want to."

Mirajane sighed softly as she chuckled to herself. For someone who looked so serious and calm, he could be as stubborn as Natsu himself.

It was the reason she'd gone for the indirect approach with the food, as he obviously didn't look like someone who was going to accept help so easily, and especially without being asked first for it.

Sasuke Uchiha was really an amusing person. Part of her wondered though, with the intensity he'd been gazing at her once he'd first seen her, had the flying ball of sunshine been right in his juvenile observations?

Glancing over the young man once more, she shook her head in disbelief, she was clearly overthinking things.

Hopefully.

* * *

**Magnolia**

**Streets**

**Thirty Minutes Later**

It hadn't taken overly long for the Uchiha to finish his meal, after which had struck up a conversation with the bartender/mage. After a little bit of probing, she realized that he had nowhere to sleep, no home, no roof under his head, no money and absolutely not a clue in the world as to what he was going to do. So far, they'd reached an agreement of sorts. He'd sleep over at the Fairy Tail Guild for the main time, helping her out with some menial chores until he took some quests to earn enough money to find himself a permanent place to stay.

There was just one problem with that scenario though…

"Why don't you want to join Fairy Tail?" Mira asked calmly. As of now, he was helping her with a few of the Guild's groceries. Yes, groceries. He wasn't arrogant or narcissistic enough to feel so self-absorbed to the point at which he would consider himself above such tasks.

Wait, scratch that. Two years ago he probably would have found the notion of him doing such to be absolutely ridiculous...

"I have nothing against Fairy Tail" which was true, the guild was decent enough from what he'd garnered. "I simply have no desire to join any guild."

As they walked down the stony path which led down to the guild, they made an odd pair with Sasuke being almost a head taller than Mirajane, and with him carrying several bags filled with grocery items such as bread, carrots, vegetables and milk, all without strain on one hand. The one that wasn't wrapped from elbow to finger in bandages.

"And you still haven't told me why that is." Mira glanced at him with a somewhat suspicious look, only that it lacked the immense flair of hostility which Erza's usually possessed.

Sasuke wanted to sigh in annoyance, at this was the third time she'd asked him that now.

"I simply want to be free." He admitted, simply if it was just to get her off his case "To explore the world with my eyes and drink in everything that life had to offer, everything that I'd been too blind to see while growing up." He had added that last part as a barely audibly whisper, though Mirajane was still attentive enough to grasp.

'_What does he mean by 'Too blind enough to see?' what was that supposed to mean?' _Mira wondered to herself.

Sasuke Uchiha was like a never ending stream of puzzles and waves, the second she was able to get one answer, she had unlocked three more questions. He was the living embodiment of a human mystery, and he'd always find clever or creative ways to dodge her questions, and it was beginning to grate on her nerves.

Said Uchiha on the other hand, was reflecting on his thoughts as well, it was true that, the older you grew up, the less you gained the ability to marvel and wonder about the world. It was even doubly more so for Sasuke, who due to his upbringing had never even had the time to enjoy said marvels and wonders, and with his own self-imposed goal of vengeance, he'd missed a lot of what life had to offer, because he never paid attention to it in the first place.

"Sasuke-san… do you mind me asking… what happened to your arm?" Sasuke blinked at the sudden change in topic, but otherwise showed no outward reaction.

"It was blown to pieces in a fight with someone." He stated casually, ignoring the somewhat slack-jawed expression on the young woman's face. "I had it replaced with a prosthetic one."

"Blown to pieces?" the shock could not be contained on her face "How did that happen?" it was an intriguing tale to tell. After all, what sort of potentially destructive technique could possess the power needed to tear off flesh, bone, tissue and muscle and completely destroy one's arm?

Sasuke smirked slightly "That's… a long story." And this time it wasn't a half-baked excuse, it really was a long tale.

"You've been using that same excuse for some time Sasuke-san." She sighed as she shook her head to the side "You're more mysterious than the skeletons in an old man's closet."

"Hn." He stated simply, but mostly because he couldn't think of a smartass reply to that. Something did cross his mind though, as he realized that he'd been more open and conversational with Mirajane than he had been with anyone in a long time… excluding Naruto.

Sasuke wondered at first why it felt so easy to communicate with her, and why he felt at ease in her presence, he had at first attributed it to some kind of illusion, but his eyes revealed nothing. She also didn't seem like the type that would slip something into his food either.

He then realized, it probably had something to do with the fact that she wasn't leaning off his shoulder, or blatantly flirting with him to try and win his attention. Or perhaps the fact that she was an avid listener, had a re-assuring smile and was like an open book. Or was it her beauty, her kindness, or her generosity which made him so open with her?

Sasuke was unsure as to which was his answer.

He never once thought to the possibility, that simply talking with someone, with anyone, who didn't know who he was or had any ulterior motive planned, was a gradual improvement on his psyche. Sasuke had always guarded himself with the walls he set up, blocking people from entering his emotions… and for once having a conversation with a girl that didn't see him as either a criminal trying to repent for his ways, or a monster who had done so much damage due to the price of his self-obsessed goal of vengeance… it felt nice.

"Sasuke-san… you're wrong about one thing though." The Uchiha drew his thoughts back to the petite young woman. Mirajane walked several steps forward as she stared up at the sky with her hands clasped behind her back.

"I know that you want to be free, and to see the world, you feel that being in a guild will stop you." She clasped her hands together in front of her chest as her voice softened.

"But you're wrong. A guild is a place where hopes and dreams are born, and those dreams are cherished…"

"… the happiness of one is the happiness of all, so what would be better than exploring the beauty of the world…" Sasuke simply stared onward as the glowing orange sun slowly set over the horizon, the beautiful image bouncing of glass and buildings, and landing on the young bartender, giving her an illustrious glow as she shined in his vision.

"…than sharing that beauty with the ones you love?" she tilted her head to the side as her eyes closed in a whole-hearted smile.

Sasuke stood in place transfixed for several minutes, simply unable to gaze away for whatever infernal reason. The sunlight reflecting on her hair as it blew with the calm autumn breeze, her smile which possessed enough warmth to melt the harshest of tundra's with but a single glance. Her eyes, deep blue as the depths of the oceans which knew no end.

It was breathtaking.

"Ah! It's late! I supposed to have finished making dinner by now!"

That is, before Mirajane ruined the moment by panicking and running off.

Sasuke stood as he glanced at the spot were Mira had been. Slowly, a smirk came to his features, then a grin, then he burst out into full blown laughter.

It was the first time, in a long time he'd ever recalled laughing so hard.

'_Love…'_ he mused ´…_it's been a long time since I've heard that word.'_

"_I love you Sasuke-kun!"_

The memory flashed in his peripheral vision, his Sharingan allowing him to recall it with relative ease.

'…_what a foolish notion.' _The Last Uchiha thought bitterly to himself as he gazed out to the Sun which had finally departed beyond the clouds.

'_I may have changed… but I don't think I'll ever be capable of that emotion.'_

"Sasuke-san hurry it up, we're late!" Mirajane called out from several feet away.

'_No… not ever._'

* * *

**Magnolia**

**Fairy Tail Guild Hall**

**Later that Night…**

When dusk had come, and Fairy Tail was out of rum, it was usually time for most of the members to head on home for the night. Sasuke had merely watched in amusement from the sidelines as the guild threw an outrageous party… for no reason whatsoever. The party, sometime in had eventually escalated to a full on brawl within the guild, causing the Guild Master to weep at more funds that were going to be spent on the repairs of the damaged guild hall.

Thankfully none of them were fighting with magic, otherwise there wouldn't be any Guild left to repair.

Regardless of which, the Guild Master had been very lenient in letting Sasuke sleep in the Guild overnight, which was somewhat surprising to the Uchiha.

"Well my boy, we can't say no to someone in need can we?" The short old man said in a hearty bellow, shaking Sasuke's hand.

Sasuke was shocked to say the least and had to apply chakra to his hand lest the man broke it from the handshake.

All plans the Uchiha possessed on defeating the tiny old man who had gained the title of Wizard Saint suddenly flew out the window. The old man was insanely strong, judging by the fact that he'd barely looked as though he had put any energy in his handshake. It was like he wasn't even trying.

Appearances were truly deceiving after all. "You're strong boy." The old man said in a toothy grin.

"Thank you so much master!" Mirajane said chirpily as the old man agreed to the proposal.

"Of course… just as long as young Sasuke here makes sure he knows where his hands are at all times, or as long as you two keep the noise down to a minimum." A perverted glint shone in the man's eyes that Mirajane had no problems seeing through.

"Master!" Mirajane echoed, blushing at the connonation.

Sasuke for one, decided to act ignorant. "I assure you, I won't do anything Mirajane doesn't want me to do."

The statement had been honest and assuming, but when taken in with the previous one, the sheer ambiguity added to it threw the two for a spin.

"Sasuke-san!" Mirajane yelled, mostly as a way to cover up her glowing red face from the innuendo. The Uchiha on his part had a blank look on his face as though he hadn't done anything important, but Mirajane was able to detect the slight twitch of his cheek in amusement.

Yes, Sasuke Uchiha could crack a joke. Who knew?

Regardless, it was just about two hours to midnight by now, and Sasuke for some reason found sleep an uncomfortable notion to him. Sneaking out of his little room in the basement of the guild without being noticed or spotted, he'd made a beeline for the very top of the guild, a somewhat serene spot where he could lay his back and simply gaze into the stars.

The cool breeze of the night did nothing to deter him, regardless of the fact that he'd changed into a simple sleeveless blue top and a pair of shorts, he couldn't help but think.

It really dawned on him now that he was in a new world, as the constellation of the stars where completely different from what he'd gotten used to back in the Elemental Nations.

A small smile came to his features, as he realized that he'd only gotten into the habit of gazing into the sky after spending time with that lazy Nara. It had started simply enough, the two played a game of Shogi, partly to determine Sasuke's intentions and partly to deduce his level of intellect.

What they hadn't expected, was for their games to last hours at a time, before Shikamaru would finally defeat him in a checkmate. It had hurt his pride to lose again and again, but the deal was simple. If he won, Shikamaru would stop being lazy. If he lost, he'd have to lay still and watch the clouds with the lazy Jounin.

Needless to say, he never won. Not even once. And due to how long their matches were, they'd usually ended up around night time, when the Uchiha would be forced to swallow his pride and gaze blankly at the clouds.

Regardless, Sasuke saw past the clouds, he was fascinated with the stars, the little bright sparks in the sky which tales of its legend had formed countless lullabies that had lulled children to sleep, or endless legends of men who had undergone quests and challenges for a greater honor.

That was when he'd picked up an interest in learning the constellations of the starry skies, it was a form of relaxation for him. He'd never admit it, but he was grateful to the Nara's cold but indifferent outlook on him, after their first Shogi match, the Nara treated him with indifference, as though he was just like everyone else, and not with the suspicious or wary gazes given to him by civilians and shinobi alike.

Sasuke's lips turned into a smirk. He supposed one of the benefits of having an I.Q. of above two hundred was that you didn't have time to deal with trivialities, because you were much smarter than that.

His smirk vanished not to long after though, as he realized he'd been reminiscing of a past that was no longer available to him. Of the good moments and times he'd had with the Konoha Eleven to regain their trust.

There was no point thinking about it now was there? There was no turning back. And there was no use crying over spilt milk.

A thousand times he'd thought, what would have happened differently if Itachi hadn't planted the seed of vengeance into his head? What would have been different if he'd never ran off to Orochimaru or joined the Akatsuki? What would have been different if he hadn't been so gullible, so naïve, and so easy to manipulate?

Regardless of what the answers were, it was already too late.

Sasuke hummed a little song to himself as he noticed the weather get somewhat colder as the temperature fell, and the humidity rose. The song he was humming in particular was one that his mother, Mikoto Uchiha used to sing to him and Itachi when they were younger.

Glancing around to realize that no one was within range, he touched the bandage on his prosthetic arm, revealing a storage seal. With a little application of chakra, there was a puff of smoke, before an item appeared before him. It was a small flute, of about seven inches, it has a nice blue color with splashes of royal purple on the side. The flute was old however, it had several dents and scrapes, and the paint was almost rusted on the side.

It was one of the things he'd taken from his Uchiha compound, it was his mother's flute. She was a fine kunoichi that excelled at Genjutsu, but with her identity as an Uchiha, she needed something unique of her own, so she began using the battle flute, as no one would have expected an Uchiha of all people to use sound-based Genjutsu.

He tested the flute with utmost care, held it slowly in his hands like it was a fragile piece of glass, before placing it at the tip of his lips.

And then, he began to play.

(_Insert Fairy Tail OST: Sad Theme) _

The slow tune echoed out across the night sky, and those few members of Fairy Tail that where left in the guild couldn't help wonder where the tune was coming from.

"You guys hear that?" Wakaba asked as the guild quieted down to listen.

"It's coming from the roof." Macao added.

The rest of the members of Fairy Tail couldn't help but feel the rhytmn of the song, it felt as though it went past their barriers as it hit a painful spot they'd all tried to forget.

Mirajane and Elfman paused and glanced at each other as she was reminded of Lisanna, of the girl's kind smile and loving nature, of her child-like eyes which sparkled constantly in admiration and in joy.

"_Don't be so mean Mira-neesan!"_

Mirajane held back the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes '_Lisanna…_'

Gray was reminded of his time with Ul, his most unsavory moments.

"_Stop this! There's no way you can win against Deliora as you are Gray!"_

"_Shut up! You think you can understand?" he yelled coldly "I'm going to avenge my tou-san and my kaa-san! You got a problem with that!_

"_You leave and you're expelled!"_

"_Fine! That sounds good to me! If I die, then I'll haunt you for not teaching me more powerful magic!"_

Gray could do nothing but clench his fists hard enough to draw blood, he couldn't help but recall the moments of his childhood that were most painful to him.

"_I'll do anything you say from now on! Please just stop it!" Gray yelled, tears streaming down his cheeks._

"_Don't be sad…" Ul smiled in her final moments as her body cracked away into ice "I'll live on… as the ice, for all eternity."_

"_Go forth… to your future." The light died down, the mist cleared, and Ul was no were to be seen._

"_UL!"_

"What is this song?" Gray asked no one in particular, the emotion it evoked was causing him to remember his most painful memories.

"It is the representation of one's innermost feelings given form."

Gray turned, finding the master sitting on the counter with a serious expression on his face. The old man had his eyes closed as he listened to the echo of the tune.

"But… why does it feel so…?" Gray looked like was he was struggling with the right words to use.

"Sad? Empty?" The master provided, making the Ice Mage nod his head slightly.

"It's not my place to say. It's not my question to ask. It's the thoughts and desires of the flutist; it is the expression of his true self. It is his melody."

It was calm, unknown, scared and comforting at the same time. It was the melody, of someone without a house, but with a home, someone who was forever alone, but never truly lonely. It was… the melody of a wanderer.

(_End Fairy Tail OST: Sad Theme)_

Sasuke let a small grin grace his face as he ended his song. He'd gone overboard with his music again, and hoped no one had seen him look so sentimental. He wouldn't be able to live it down if that was the case.

An image of Konoha appeared in his peripheral vision, with Naruto, the knucklehead grinning like a chesire cat. Sakura, hands clasped together in an embracing smile. Kakashi, with his nose buried in that damnable smut, but his one visible eye still crinkling in delight. There was Itachi, with his annoying forehead poking against his younger self. His father, Fugaku, staring at him with his strict but approving gaze.

Most importantly, there was Mikoto, his kaa-san, his mother, the warm smile of the woman that had brought him into this world in the first place. The most important female figure in his life, and truly the only female he'd ever known.

Part of him couldn't help but think, what would her opinion of him be now?

Glancing a small smile to the moon which lay up high above the clouds, he never paid any notice to the magnanimous echo of applause that came from within the guild.

* * *

**Unknown Location**

**Secret Hideout**

"Master, it seems that we've confirmed that one of the Keys to freeing Zeref could very well be in that town or in the forests surrounding it." A woman's voice spoke calmly, as she walked down the fancy vintage styled carpet that laid around the Guild Master's throne room.

"Excellent. Let two of you go down to confirm the pick-up." The master spoke with a long deep baritone voice that had not a shred of warmth to its feel.

"Yes, at once."

"Oh, and Ultear…" he added as an afterthought, "…tell them to be prepared to meet some hospitable guests… it's about time this alliance of ours is put to good use."

"Of course, Master Hades." The woman known as Ultear stated curtly, before bowing and walking away, leaving the nefarious guild master to himself.

'Hmm… soon, I shall unleash the might of Zeref… and when that time comes… there's nothing in the world that can stop me.'

'But in the meantime…' Hades thought as he looked at the picture of a mysterious black haired young man who had apparently gained the attention of his right hand woman.

"Sasuke Uchiha…" Hades grinned, as the picture in his hands slowly turned to ash "What an amusing person."

* * *

**A/N: And that's a wrap. So here it is, fresh from the keyboard, my attempt and humanizing Uchiha Sasuke. I felt that I may have overdone it a little but meh! I'm writing this for fun and amusement as well as to improve on my english... so either way, enjoy. I've gotten way too used to writing a Psychopath Sasuke that writing a relatively stable one is a challenge I'm willing to take.**

**Anyway... This is the end of what i dub Introduction Arc, next chapter, the action will kick up and you'll get to know a little about Sasuke's strength level.**

**And yes I was listening to the Fairy Tail OST while writing this. Felt surreal.**

**Read and Review.**

**With that, Illusionary Reality,**

**is out.**

**Ja Ne!**


	3. Melody of The Rune

**A/N: Okay! Finally updating in forever! Finally got my shit together to write this. No excuses this time though, I'm done with that. So without further ado I give you the latest chapter of...**

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**xXx ~ The Melody of the Wanderer ~ xXx**

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"Each smallest act of kindness, reverberates across great distances and spans of time -affecting lives unknown to the one who's generous spirit, was the source of this good echo. Because kindness is passed on and grows each time it's passed until a simple courtesy becomes an act of selfless courage, years later, and far away. Likewise, each small meanness, each expression of hatred, each act of evil."  
― Dean Koontz

_**Chapter 2**_

**_The Melody of the Rune_**

**Magnolia**

**Early That Morning**

Dawn had come very early the next morning, as the sun allowed itself to be seen once more by the denizens of the world, birds and mammals alike awoke from their sleepy trance, as they vacated the realm of Morpheus and returned to reality.

Bustling on the streets of Magnolia, men and women alike could be seen in business suits of all forms and types hurrying to get to their place of work, or the catch the early morning Train at the Magnolia Station.

Mailmen alike were notably one of the earliest risers, following side by side with the newspaper delivery boys or even the occasional couriers. Amongst this notable group of early risers, was a particular young man, who got up neither to make some sort of monetary gain or due to the nature of an occupation, but did so for an entirely different reason.

Two somewhat weary black eyes slowly opened themselves to the world, outside was still dark as the sun had yet to peak up beyond the horizon. Sitting up slowly, Sasuke muffled a yawn as he ran his hand through his mess of black hair, squinting slightly as he took a few nano-seconds to re-adjust his sight to the environment. With two firm blinks of his eyes, whatever state of dysania which had previously threatened to overcome him vanished into nothingness.

He'd been allowed to sleep in the basement of the guild, which mostly stored the provisions and other necessities for the guild. Thankfully, he'd been given a nice inflatable bed which he had made use of.

Sasuke stood up from his make-shift bed before deflating it. Walking around, he did some stretches first to regain the flexibility in his muscles and to rejuvenate himself from his still slightly sleepy state. Sasuke had gotten up earlier than the sun, and had since then spent his time doing his full body, early morning workout.

Sitting on the floor, he'd began instantly with three hundred and fifty squats, not stopping or slowing down his momentum for even the slightest of seconds. This was mostly the 'warm-up' to his exercise however. It hadn't taken him long to complete the exercise at one squat per second. By the time he'd finished his warm up, the sun was now slowly peaking over the horizon, and the darkness had changed to an eerie but comfortable blue hue.

Standing up slightly without even having broken a sweat, he discarded his shirt to the side, and got down on his hands and feet, to start up the real exercise. With both hands positioned in a fist, he began a series of push-ups, feeling little to no strain on his muscles from the exercise he decided to up the difficulty level. Attaching weights to his arms and legs that increased his overall weight and the overall difficulty of the exercise, he began the exercise anew.

'_One… two… three…'_

Sasuke's mind quickly diverted to the course of action which he'd planned on taking today, the first and foremost was to leave the Fairy Tail guild.

'_Eighty-one, eighty-two, eighty-three…'_

This was mostly temporary though, as he owed them for their help, as such he was simply leaving until he was able to stabilize the weight in his wallet so to speak.

'_Two-hundred and six, two-hundred and seven, two-hundred and eight…_'

Regardless of which, his plan for the day replayed itself over and over in his mental map, checking the possible cons and pros, analyzing for any unforeseen effect or consequence.

Sasuke let out a grunt of exertion when he finally reached five-hundred push-ups with the weights. His body visibly dripping in sweat from exertion, the sweat glistening on his skin like a second layer; though it was to be expected, as with two-hundred and fifty pounds per limb, he'd been performing push-ups with a total of one thousand pounds on his entire body. Repeat – one thousand pounds. This was something that was considered inhumanly impossible by any stretch of imagination, even amongst his fellow shinobi. Not that Sasuke knew, or cared, but his strength was still not exactly comparable to Naruto's previous strength two years back while in Sage Mode… in which the blonde had hoisted and thrown Kurama himself – the nine-tailed demon fox which was larger than any dragon in this universe – over his shoulder, albeit with the strength of several shadow clones.

Regardless, Sasuke had just recently started to gain that level of raw strength. His eyes were only now absentmindedly catching spots in the floor that had cracked and were seriously damaged from withstanding such a huge amount of weight. He'd have to fix that before anyone noticed.

Still with the weights on, Sasuke proceeded to complete an additional five hundred sit ups, to feel the extra burn, before throwing on a random shirt, and decided to take a jog round the town of Magnolia, using the exercise as a means to familiarize himself with the layout of the city. It was through this exercise that he'd observed the early-risers of the city.

As for his training regimen, he'd have to give credit to Rock Lee for its origin. The bowler-cut haired boy had in more ways than one inspired Sasuke to always train constantly. The original belief Sasuke held was that he was powerful enough as he was, so he could stop bothering himself with excessive amounts of training, and that no opponent could possibly defeat him anymore. In a sense, he'd gained a superiority complex based on that belief.

It had been shattered abruptly though, when Rock Lee dominated him in a pure Taijutsu match, regardless of the fact that he'd been using his Sharingan to predict the boy's moves – albeit the teen had been making use of the Gates. Sasuke had argued that he would have won if he'd been allowed to use Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, to which Rock Lee freely admitted. The point the boy had been able to teach him however, was that he wasn't a complete master of every facet of the ninja arts.

So, unless he was good enough to beat both Rock Lee and Guy in a two on one Taijutsu match, or good enough to trap and deceive Uchiha-freaking-Itachi in a Genjutsu, or good enough to _outlast_ Uzumaki Naruto himself in a Ninjutsu contest, then he had a long, long way to go. It was a reminder that no matter how strong he was now, there was always room for improvement, and he wasn't going to let all his power go to his head as he'd done before – especially seeing how that had ended last time.

While still jogging around the city, his mind burning the images and locations of places into his memory, Sasuke came to a sudden halt, or more accurately, was forced to come to a halt when someone barreled straight into him.

The sudden surprise of an unexpected force stunned the Uchiha slightly, as he subconsciously attempted to use chakra to stick to the ground, but rather failed sourly as he'd been slammed into just as his right foot had disconnected with the floor in his jog, causing him to tip over on his weaker leg, the additional mass of heavy weight on his body being all that was needed to disrupt his normally impeccable balance. The results were a collision between unmovable object and barreling force. The two of them of them collapsed to the floor in a manner that was comic gold, and in the process also burying them under a small layer of books that the smaller figure seemed to have been carrying.

"Gah!"

Sasuke felt his eye twitch in annoyance at himself for not dodging the person fast enough, or not having sensed the person quick enough to dodge the collision, and avoid being put in such a compromising position. His mind then instantly caught up to the fact that he _probably_ hadn't responded quickly enough due to the fact that he still had all the weights on his body restricting his movement, a whooping total of one-thousand pounds – which also probably explained why the impact had created a medium sized crater in the street several diameters wide and multiple inches deep.

As he was, he could easily identify that the figure who had crashed into him had been a female, as his hand could feel the softness and squishiness of the person's chest, and as far as he knew, men didn't have soft or squishy chests. Her legs and ended up entangled with his, though she was quite a bit shorter than he was, and her face stopped mere centimeters away from his.

She glanced at his onyx black eyes with her hazel colored ones, before her face turned a fast shade of red, and she jumped off him like as though she'd been burned. Sasuke took his time to sit up, before his eyes made a swift and thorough examination of the girl in front of him.

She was a rather young. Petite teenage girl with a slender build and stood at a rather below-average height for someone of her age – he'd deduced she was of at least seventeen years from her chest – no, he was not a pervert. She possessed shoulder-length blue hair with eyebrow-length bangs which was tied up with a colorful bandana around her head. Her hair possessed a somewhat wavy and wild look, with locks hanging down from the top of her face. She was wearing a short orange dress of slightly-above mid-thigh length, which possessed a large white bow that tied up around her back and knotted in front of her chest, while the dress itself possessed to shoulder regions. This allowed for what Sasuke had assumed free mobility, and also displayed her guild mark on her left scapula.

Sasuke nearly sighed in annoyance at seeing the Fairy Tail guild mark. _Nearly_, being the keyword. He'd been hoping to avoid running into any Fairy Tail mages for the time being, as almost all of them wanted him for something after his solo flute performance at the top of their guild.

"Gomen, I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going…" she stated rapidly, bowing her head in apology most likely to hide her still red cheeks.

Her cheeks were red both because of the fall which had led to a compromising position, and because she knew that he had copped a feel of her chest, though she wasn't sure if it was accidently or not. Regardless, she couldn't attack him for it because she'd initiated the crash in the first place. Her eyes then however, noticed the crater she'd landed in. She was almost certain that wasn't there before and there was no way a combined collision could have caused that kind of damage to the street.

"Hn." Sasuke stated simply, before getting up to his feet and brushing off the dust on his clothes from his fall.

The girl however didn't seem placated with such a response. "You don't have to be a jerk about it, I said I was sorry!" she more of mumbled to herself than to him, but Sasuke's sharp eyes picked it up anyway.

His eyebrow rose slightly, which would probably be the Uchiha version of having a look like a fish gapping out of water. He then realized that no one here would understand his simple one-line responses and would most likely take offense to them. Sasuke had actually meant to harm, his response was a 'don't worry about it' but someone who didn't know the Uchiha personally would obviously assume something else entirely.

Sasuke wasn't the most conversational person in the world, and in fact, sometimes making simple civil conversation was a chore to him which he found highly difficult to perform. He had a form of dyslogia, in which inhibited him from properly expressing his thoughts and feelings – unless, of course, they were about rage, sorrow or battle. This had such and made him a man of action rather than a man of words, so rather than refute the girl's claims; he bent low, and began helping her pick up the numerous books that had scattered around after their crash.

The girl seemed to want to say something, but as she opened her mouth to speak, she closed it immediately after; before she simply joined Sasuke and the two began picking up the books together.

Once he'd finished carrying as many as he could hold with his hands, he noticed that the books were quite a lot, and the girl had also carried a steep pile. It made him wonder slightly how she'd been able to carry them all by herself.

"Arigato…" she tested, as she noticed that they'd finished gathering up the scattered books.

"Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke provided his name, balancing the long pile of what he assumed to be no less than forty – a quick count with his Sharingan showed that they were forty-eight books in total. That was, forty eight books in his possession, the young blue-haired girl also had several books in her hands as well.

"Arigato Sasuke-san. I'm Levy McGarden." She stated chirpily, before she blinked as she took in Sasuke's appearance and his face, her eyes suddenly widening in realization.

"You're the guy that Erza-san and Lucy-chan brought in yesterday!" she stated, somewhat over excitedly "You're really great with the flute! The song you played was amazing! Everyone in the guild had been moved by it… though it was somewhat sad."

"Hn." Sasuke gave the verbal equivalent of a shrug. He didn't really care about the people that had been listening – he didn't even know people had been listening. He was more concerned with playing to himself and for himself.

"Where are you taking these books?" he asked, just slightly out of curiosity. Levy however could detect the unasked question hidden beneath.

"Ah, you don't really have to help me carry them, it's quite far and I can take them by myself…" she stated while waving her hands in a somewhat placating gesture.

"More the reason why you shouldn't be carrying them yourself, the books are taller than you are, I wonder how you were able to see where you were going in the first place." Sasuke stated in a somewhat bland and slightly sarcastic tone.

Levy puffed her cheeks out at the subtle jab at her height. Of course he hadn't done it intentionally, but he had still blatantly stated that a pile of books was taller than her.

"Fairy Hills." She stated with a sigh, she was secretly sensitive about her height, and hoped she'd get taller over time. "I'm taking the books to Fairy Hills, it's the dorm where most of the girls from Fairy Tail live."

"…" Sasuke gave her a blank look and she caught on to the unasked question quite sharply.

"It's near the outskirts of the town." She stated as she held up her books with her hands, and indicated a specific general direction as to which the Fairy Hills building was located.

Sasuke did find this somewhat strange though, it was still quite early after all, and for some weird reason she was couriering books from the middle of Magnolia, where he'd met her, to the outskirts of the town. That was quite a far distance away, and she'd been planning on carrying all those books by herself on such a long trip? When most people had yet to wake? Was she perhaps doing this as a training exercise? He idly wondered.

He indicated for her to lead the way, which she did, as the two began their trek down to their location. Sasuke didn't mind the unexpected diversion from his tour and jog, mostly because he had mostly completed it anyway. That, and the books she'd been carrying had drawn his attention.

Sasuke had been walking behind her, so he simply picked a book from the large pile he was holding with a single hand, such a feat which required an amazing sense of balance… or chakra as a suction or adhesive to hold it all together. He opened the book's first page, and with his Sharingan active, started blurring through pages like a man possessed, his posture as he held and read the book with one hand unknowingly similar to a certain silver haired scarecrow.

Information was power, and lack of information often killed a shinobi quicker than the blade of their enemy. This was a quote Sasuke had learned by heart, and it was one he would do to always remember. It was why he'd seen this as a perfect chance to read up on the customs and cultures, rules, and as well as the do's and don'ts of this world.

Thankfully, the current book in his grasp was one which contained certain aspects of history and information, though it seemed to generalize on the subject of Runes which was an arcane magic in the world.

Unfortunately for Sasuke though, his guest didn't have the ability to read and walk while your body unconsciously dodged objects for you and ensured that you stayed on the right path, and walking such a long distance in silence would be a highly uncomfortable experience.

"So Sasuke-san…" she started, seemingly trying to find a topic of which she could start up a conversation "… what sort of magic do you use?"

Sasuke was excellent at multi-tasking, so he didn't even stop reading as his mind thought up a possible answer to that question, which he presumed someone would have asked him by now. He wasn't going to tell them that he wasn't a mage and bring up the issue of chakra, no, only an idiot like Naruto would do that. Regardless, he also needed to tell them a specific kind of ability he used that would be enough to satisfy their curiosity.

"I use a certain type of ocular power…" he started, not even breaking his stride from his reading "…which allows me to see things in slow motion, or in fast-forward." The statement was entirely true, allowing him to give as little information about his abilities as possible.

Information was power after all.

"Ah…" Levy muttered, not really sure how to respond to that. She had expected something more surreal, as his power was impressive, but compared to something like Natsu's Dragonslayer powers, or Lucy's Celestial Spirits or Gray's Ice Make magic… it wasn't as awe inspiring. "…that's nice?"

Sasuke could tell that she didn't sound convinced, but then decided to elaborate just a little for the awe factor – his pride would probably be the end of him, but he wasn't going to take lightly to anyone underestimating the might of the Sharingan. "The ability to see things in slow motion is more useful than you think, it is a form of psuedo- precognition that enables you to see your opponents move before they make it, enabling you to dodge, counter or parry an attack before it is ever even made." He stated robotically.

"This, coupled with the simultaneous ability to break down and absorb information and data from the most minuscule of actions, can make it be able to recognize and detect weaknesses in opponents, decipher riddles, codes, learn at a faster rate than most and manipulate even the matrices of these runes like a child molding clay."

He'd spoken without thinking, his mind had therefore picked up on some of the information he was reading, and had stated his thoughts on these specific types of Runes which prevented people under its influence from leaving them without obeying the specific conditions set – not that he knew, was a type of magic used by one of the more famous members of the Fairy Tail guild. Of course this had instantaneously brought about Levy's attention as she whipped around and saw him with his nose buried in one of her books.

"That's impossible; you can't break or manipulate the complex matrix of the runes that simply. The barrier is projected is empowered by the magical energy of the atmospheres Eternano itself, the best you can do is edit the rules just enough to find a loophole to bypass them."

Being a person who prided herself in her knowledge of Runes and Script magic in general, that little snippet and the end of his statement had been what had disturbed her more than the fact that he was reading one of her books.

"Not if you are capable of changing the conditions met via alteration of the layer of the matrix, addition of another layer of the matrix over the pre-existing one, or simple disruption of the stable flow of magical energy entirely with the manipulation of environmental Eternano. It's stated here, Chapter eight, page one-hundred and seven of Advanced Arithmancy for Rune Wizards."

He'd barely completed his statement before she'd swiped the book away from his hands and began reading at a furious pace. "This is…!" she was amazed at the fact of what the book had stated.

Basically, one could escape those pesky trap runes which people like Freed from Laxus's Raijinshu used without having to complete the requirement. This was done by simply finding a way to disrupt the magical energy which kept the runes in place, and then chipping away at that small weak spot created by the disruption before it came crashing down. Or simply absorbing the magical energy which kept the runes in place all together.

She was starting to see the usefulness of the Uchiha's 'fast-forwarding eyes' as she now dubbed them. As even with her Wind-Reading glasses, there would have been no way she'd have gotten to this book for some time – considering the large pile she had to read –, and she wouldn't have learnt about that potentially life-saving piece of information.

Without either of them realizing it, that simple action, that rather obscure piece of information had altered the course of the future to come.

Levy frowned before a thought came to her as she noticed the Uchiha with his nosed buried in another book. "This is really complex stuff. Most people wouldn't even understand the terms and expressions used in this book unless they had an idea of the specific details or general information on Runes."

Sasuke had easily detected the unasked question, _how did you figure this out?_ And simply gave a smirk, not a cold one as he was used to, but a condescending smirk that implied the fact that he knew something that she didn't. The smirk meant one thing, _That's for me to know, and for you to find out_.

In reality, Runes were highly similar to Fuinjutsu which Sasuke had studied and had become fascinated with it. He had some light training in rough Fuinjutsu from Orochimaru, but his real experience with it came after the war, when Naruto had defeated him in one of their spars with a well-placed Fuinjutsu trap. Vowing not to fall to the same trick again, he started a vigorous study of Fuinjutsu simply to come up with a counter, and simultaneously beat Naruto at his own game.

He did eventually find the counter, but not so much for defeating Naruto at Fuinjustu. The blonde menace was a true Uzumaki in the sense that once he started dabbling in the art, he'd become more and more proficient to the point he made Kakashi and hell, even Jiraiya look like rank amateurs in Fuinjutsu knowledge and experience. Sasuke was of course proficient in the art as well, as his research to find counters to the blondes annoying traps had made him an expert in the field, but he truly paled in comparison to Naruto himself.

Levy of course did not know this, and as far as she was knew, she'd recently stumbled upon a rare Rune Genius. This was a goldmine of opportunity for her, especially since she had no one that could really teach her anything in her magic. Seeing as Freed was almost never present in the guild, and she really didn't feel comfortable asking the somewhat distant and intimidating teen for advice or tips.

She had just found their similar topic of interest. Her eyes glinted with glee and joy as she pestered the black-haired boy on Rune knowledge for the entire trip to their destination, while said boy answered while simultaneously reading through each and every book in her possession. Without the duo even realizing it, a new and somewhat weird symbiotic, teacher-student relationship was born.

Then again, with Uchiha Sasuke, no relationship was ever going to be normal.

* * *

It had been a long and entertaining trip, in which Sasuke had ended up possessing far more knowledge on the world at large than he had when he'd left earlier that morning. Sasuke had quickly returned to the guild after aiding Levy with her books. He stealthily entered without being noticed, though it was still quite early, so only Mirajane was currently present. He made his way to the showers located in the basement of the Guild, as he needed a bath to wash off the sweat he'd accumulated from his exercise, so he could _finally_ start his day.

As he entered the showers and let the steamy hot water wash off the sweat and grime from his day, he idly realized that he never asked Levy why exactly she was carrying all those books all the way from Magnolia so early in the morning…

Shrugging off the reason as inconsequential, Sasuke continued his shower with a sense of accomplishment as his mind arranged relevant facts and information he'd gotten from the girl's books. Most of them had been on arcane magic and other nonsensical things that he cared very little about. However, few contained valuable information about the world at large. Especially those ones that mentioned a specific name.

Zeref. The so-called Black Wizard. For some weird reason, Sasuke felt a connection to that name, as though he'd heard of it before but it had been so long ago that he'd forgotten. However, that was impossible, as he had only recently come to this dimension. Either way, he knew that he'd search out for any of the creations of that wizard, especially the demons. He'd like to compare them to the biju of his world and see how they stacked up in strength.

Sasuke's lips became thin once he realized that he'd once more made a comparison between Earthland and the Elemental Nations. It seemed that forgetting the past and moving on was harder said than done.

As Sasuke stepped out of the shower, he decided to put his plan into action… first and foremost, he needed money. Stealing it would be the easiest way… heaven knows that no one would be able to catch him with his level of stealth and power. However, it would be too suspicious if someone noticed that a bank or safe or someplace was robbed not too long after his appearance in the town. Especially since Magnolia was so annoyingly peaceful.

This meant… Plan B.

He'd worn his clothes and snuck out of the guild once more, as he was now, he sat on a high perch above a building, with his eyes blazing on as he searched for his target. His eyes caught on to various different people, mostly civilians though. As it only recently occurred to Sasuke, that according to a census and survey done; only ten percent of people in the world were capable of using magic.

That was insane. In a world mostly dominated by magical people, events and creatures, he wondered how the ninety percent of the population coped with having people that could cause copious amounts of destruction to the landscape with their mystical abilities. Let's not forget, ignoring the normal Legal Guilds who protected the citizens, the remaining part of the ten percent of people who could use magic were members of Dark Guilds that used their power for nefarious purposes.

It was another thing that separated his world from this, at least in the Elemental Nations, everyone had chakra. So if you were given the right training, everyone could become shinobi. No such luck for the poor saps in this world though.

'_Found you…' _Sasuke thought to himself as he gazed at his target before vanishing in a blur of wind and leaves.

Sasuke was a genius. That fact was one thing that many could not dispute, his ability to pick up information and his learning rate was above the charts. This also meant his I.Q. was far above average as well. He was no Nara Shikamaru, nor was he any Namikaze Minato, but Sasuke belonged to his own class of genius.

He'd quickly been able to pick up the little detail of the fact that new missions were supplied to the Fairy Tail each day, which meant that someone, or something was responsible for this delivery of new and available quests which were always posted on the guild notice boards.

Sasuke needed money, and the only way he could find himself getting any was either to rob some poor sod, or to complete a quest and get paid. Plan A seemed to be the easy way out, but it would draw to much attention, so the Plan B worked out quite well.

Here lied the problem though, quests where only given out to Legal Active guilds, and to take a quest, you needed to belong to a magic guild that was recognized and approved by the magic council. Sasuke had already decided not to join a guild, and as such it meant that normal quests would be unavailable to him for the main time, the only other way of getting on a quest was if someone asked for his help, in which he would be entitled to a share of the reward.

However, his pride had already taken several heavy hits, and the Fairy Tail guild master and Mirajane had already done as much as they could for him. From providing him with a decent meal, and a place to lay his head… he felt it would be highly unfair for him to ask for even more, by requesting they give him a quest to complete – when he wasn't even a member of their guild.

'_No…_' Sasuke decided ´…_They've done enough for me. From here on, I'm on my own.'_

This was what had led to his current situation. He knew that a fresh shipment of quests would be heading out to the Guild for the time being, and had put it upon himself to cut off that shipment before it reached the guild, and then obtain a quest or two which he could complete easily, so as to put some weight in his wallet.

Sasuke came to a stop at the start of a street, gazing as he noticed the courier who had the quests. He was an unassuming man of maybe thirty years of age with black hair and a short stubble, he had currently walked out of a magical powered vehicle, of which the windows were sealed tight, and was filled to the brim with papers. All of which were obviously quests.

Once again, Sasuke found himself marveling at the advanced level of technology this world possessed, most of which used a clean, atmosphere friendly energy source. The vehicle was powered by the user's own magic, or so he'd read, and as such created no form of pollution. The elemental Nations were still a bit far away from reaching such a level of advancement.

Regardless, Sasuke contemplated his method of approach as which he would use to get what he needed. He already had three methods in mind, which he was constantly going over to find the pros and cons of each method. Irregardless of which, Sasuke decided to go for the simplest approach.

With a level of stealth possessed by a shinobi of his caliber, Sasuke had approached the middle aged man without once drawing his attention, his footsteps were so silent it seemed as though his feet glided above the surface of the ground. His movements so fluid, as though he'd been a ballet dancer in a previous life, with not a single motion wasted. Glancing around with nothing but his eyes to ensure that no one was paying enough attention to them in order to be an eyewitness, he finally decided to draw the attention of the courier.

"Quite the weather today isn't it?" he asked, his tone somewhat bland and uncaring. The man seemed to straighten in surprise, as he hadn't been aware of the fact that someone was directly behind him.

"Ah Yes, Magnolia seems to have the best weather in Fiore!" The man chipped in, before turning around to meet the mysterious stranger "So, how can I help-" his question died in his throat, as he glanced into the most mystical pair of eyes he'd ever seen.

The rotating red and black eyes with tomoe mesmerized him, rendering him speechless as he watched them turn slowly like a wheel, seeing into his soul and gazing into his mind.

Before he could even comprehend what was going on, his eyes glazed over, losing their color and brightness as he stared blankly into space. Without any instruction being given, he checked amongst the pile of quests he was holding, before finding one, and handing it out to the last Uchiha.

"It's an A-Rank Quest with very good pay, hope you enjoy it Uchiha-sama." His voice was robotic and monotone, but Sasuke cared very little about that. Smirking slightly, Sasuke collected the quest from the courier, and quickly put it in one of his various pockets.

"Carry on." He stated dispassionately as the man nodded and followed the instruction, acting as though nothing had happened.

Sasuke smirked as he simply walked away while looking around to make sure that no one had observed the transaction that had just taken place. Strutting away from the proverbial scene of the crime to an empty street alley, he mentally deactivated the jutsu and watched the courier look around and scratch his head in confusion. The man's memories of the last few minutes being completely blank with no recollection of what happened.

Sasuke walked just a bit further, before he began taking in every last detail of the environment with his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, his eyes idly memorizing images of the world into his brain.

From the lone cherry-blossom tree which had its leaves flowing in the wind, to the numerous cracks that lined up the brick walls, and even every single stone which lay idly on the road. Regardless, Sasuke put up a destination in mind of a certain area in mind, before feeling the familiar pull of his chakra beneath his skin that signaled the activation of a technique.

"Shunshin no Jutsu."

The world around him became nothing more than a blur to his peripheral vision, the normal effect of tunnel vision which came with the justu kicked in instantly. That is, before his fully evolved Sharingan eyes activated, spinning madly like the pinwheel they resembled, allowing him to see places, people and objects clearly, irrespective of the speed he was moving at. Sasuke had mastered the Shunshin to similar levels as Uchiha Shisui, though he felt that Shisui would forever remain the one true master of the Shunshin.

Regardless, there was a certain thrill of moving so fast yet seeing everything in the world so slowly. It was a kind of feeling that could not be described with mere words. The world became a blur of motion and the closest thing in comparison would be as though watching a video which displayed images in three dimensions – in slow motion. He gazed at a woman pouring water from a watering can over her flowers, his eyes catching every single droplet, noticing as they floated in the air before landing with miniature thuds that sent even tinier water droplets splashing out from the impact.

It was a fun, adrenaline pumping activity that one couldn't help but marvel at. Perhaps another realistic comparison would be a high speed camera which captured over thirty pictures per second. As he was, he was faster than the naked eye could see, and regardless, anyone that was fast enough to actually see him wouldn't be able to identify him as anything more than a blur of motion moving with the wind, to be forgotten and overlooked as a mere trick of the eye.

Perhaps this was why Shisui was so cheerful? Because he'd possessed such ability and got to use it each and every day, to view the world in slow motion, to see how the little things were actually big things, and getting to do this while moving faster than most could see. Insane as it sounded, Sasuke actually thought it made sense, after all, Shisui was one of the few Uchiha who were as un-Uchiha like as one could get.

Nevertheless, the last Uchiha finally came to a halt as he landed in front of the Magnolia train station in a burst of wind and leaves, making nearby civilians jump in surprise. A train whizzed by sharply though, the rush of wind created by its passing swooping away the leaves as they floated with the papers and light plastic materials that drifted away. The Uchiha quickly glanced around to ensure he'd arrived at the right place

A heavy horn which could be heard blowing loudly assured him of the fact, as well as a small cloud of white smoke which could be seen bellowing from a train's engine as it moved away in a 'chuga-chuga-chuga-chuga' echo that most children had come to associate with the locomotive.

"Last Call for Hargeon Town!" a conductor yelled as people hurriedly rushed into the train that would take them to the infamous port town of Fiore.

After confirming his destination that he had indeed gotten to the right spot, Sasuke couldn't help but smirk as he stared at the piece of paper in his left hand. '_Now… what do we have here?' _In hindsight, he felt as though he should have checked the mission before heading immediately to the station, but he had utmost confidence in his Genjutsu.

"Freesia Town, the client is the Town Mayor. A – Rank Monster Extermination…" Sasuke muttered slightly to himself. Regardless, the only thing that was written was that they were being oppressed by a monster and required the aid of a mage immediately. Sasuke felt happy to oblige once he noted the large sum on the quest.

"Two Million Jewels huh..." He pondered to himself, the Mayor must have been desperate to put such a high amount, but that really wasn't any of his business. His goal was simply to complete the mission, get the money, and return to Fairy Tail hopefully before anyone noticed his prolonged absence – or noticed that they were short of one quest.

After all, he still had to repay Mirajane for the meal.

Without wasting any more time, he pocketed the quest into his pants as he glanced around at the station. Thankfully it was still early, so there was no Fairy Tail Mage in sight. Now, all he needed to do was get a map, and then find a train heading to Freesia Town. He did pause however, when he realized that he had no money to board a train, meaning he'd either be sneaking aboard one, or stealing a ticket. Irrespective of which, stealing a ticket or sneaking aboard would be easy enough for someone of his caliber. With any luck, this would probably be the easiest mission he'd ever completed.

Part of him somewhat felt, that he just might have jinxed himself on that one. Nonetheless, there was no time for second thoughts. He had a quest to complete.

* * *

**Fairy Tail**

**Several Hours Later**

The Fairy Tail guild was somewhat quiet today, seeing as 'The strongest team in Fairy Tail' had taken off on a quest, it was to be expected. The rest of the guild members were not that overly eccentric, and without Natsu and Gray being the proverbial matchsticks to light the flame, the guild was usually peaceful.

Makarov relaxed with a pipe in mouth and a bottle of liquor in hand, simply taking his time to relax and calm his nerves before the next fight or party would spring up.

Thankfully, most of the Fairy Tail mages already knew the law, they'd repay for any and all damages to the guild with the reward money they got on missions. Sadly, it did nothing to stop them from destroying it in a party or fight afterwards

Makarov sighed as he picked up one of the reports he'd gained from the last meeting he'd held with the other guild masters. Apparently the Balam Alliance had been staring up trouble and making several moves in the past couple of weeks… and sooner or later, someone was going to have to deal with them.

The idea was just that, an idea… but regardless, the plan to form an Alliance of sorts with other Light Guilds and attack the Balam Alliance was still a good one.

It was even more troubling now that information had come up over the fact that there was a possibility of the Alliance combining forces to become a single Guild with numerous denominations.

That would be terrifying, if the Rune Knights could barely handle them now that they were all separated, they'd stand absolutely no chance if they were genuinely united.

Makarov dropped the reports with a sigh, to clear his head of the darker matters. He truly was getting too old for this stuff. Retirement was always a possibility… but then who was he going to give the Guild to? Laxus? No. His grandson had changed, and his vision for Fairy Tail was no longer pure. Mystogan? The man was barely ever in the guild, and his mysterious past and secret would keep him unable to properly operate the guild.

He'd actually considered Erza, but she was still too young, she had yet to come to terms with her past, and it was slowly killing her potential. His last choice was Gildarts… the man certainly had the power for it. However, Gildarts lacked the subtlety, and also lacked the political prowess it needed to operate a guild. Not to mention, he'd yet to return from the hundred year quest, and the man enjoyed the thrills of travelling the world. He'd never want to sit down in one place and operate a guild.

A stray thought popped into Makarov's head. It was crazy, random and just a spur of the moment thing really, but he couldn't help but consider Sasuke… the mysterious young man with one real arm, and one prosthetic one that had come into the guild.

He certainly had the power, Makarov had put everything he had into his handshake with the young man to judge his character and his strength. To his surprise, the young man had barely flinched on the outside, and countered back with a fiercer grip. The Guild master of Fairy Tail glanced at his now bandaged and _broken _hand.

He hadn't complemented on the boy's strength because the boy had matched his grip, but rather, he'd complemented because the boy had _broken _his hand without even trying or meaning to. He'd had to give a flimsy excuse that he'd cut it on a broken beer bottle while inebriated, otherwise some the more rowdy members of Fairy Tail would seek out the Uchiha to fight him because of the fact that he broke their master's hand.

Makarov had judged from his eyes, he was an experienced warrior… and he had a gaze that only the war veterans had possessed once they'd ended a war, and realized that they had very little left to live for. It confused and amused Makarov quite a deal, the boy was too young to have been alive for any war… but his eyes told another story.

His performance with the flute had greatly touched everyone in the Guild, and everyone had wanted to meet him to thank him for it… but he'd simply vanished. No one had a clue as to when he'd left, or why he'd left. Regardless… he still wasn't an option, as he'd already made his wishes clear that he had no intention of joining the guild. Though he wished he'd join though… because it was one of the few times that Makarov had seen Mirajane's true smile since Lisanna had died.

Speaking of the devil… "What's wrong Mira?" he asked as he noticed the woman panicking up and down as she checked the request boards.

"Oh. Master, we just got a report from the Client of the Freesia Town mission. He increased the reward of the quest to twenty million jewels!" she stated in one breath, still searching and dashing through request boards causing Makarov's eyes to widen as he comically spat out his liquor.

"Well that's quite a lot for a simple A-Rank Monster Extermination, but that isn't big enough to get so worried over." he stated as he finally regained his composure.

"It's no longer an A-Rank Mission." She stated as bluntly as she could.

Oh. _Oh! _"You mean…!" Makarov's eyes widened in realization.

"Yes Master, the mission has been upgraded to a _high _S-Class ranking."

S-Class missions were missions which could be handled by a single S-Class mage without difficulty, no problem. _High _S-Class Missions however, were missions so high on the S-Rank spectrum, that it was _advised_ for it to be completed by two or more S-Class mages, or at least a single S-Class mage and half a dozen A-Class mages. In other words, they were _SS - Class _missions.

Usually, the only ones in the Guild that took those missions were Laxus and his Raijin Tribe, Mystogan, and Gildarts. Erza wasn't ready for that level of difficulty.

He immediately understood the reason as to why Mirajane was panicking over the quest. "The problem is Master, I can't find the quest anywhere! I've searched on all the notice boards, even the S-Rank ones and I've double checked with the courier."

Makarov stroked his chin as he tried to come up with a plausible location or idea… before he was struck with a frightful thought. "Has anyone seen Sasuke at all today?" the magnanimous amount of responses he received in the negatives simply seemed to confirm his thoughts.

Mirajane glanced at the master, her eyes widening in realization "You don't think…"

"It seems, that most likely, Sasuke is on that very quest right now." Makarov said sourly. Before shaking his head and gulping down another bottle. He had no doubts about the boy's strength, but these missions were usually something else. 'Kami, I'm getting too old for this shit.'

Mirajane on the other hand simply clicked her teeth as she clenched her fists, her thoughts wild… if that idiot made it back alive somehow, she was going to rip that arm off of him and shove it down his throat. And if he didn't… she'd still find some way to bring him back from the dead, only to hammer him on the head for committing such a stupid act.

'Seriously, stealing a quest, is he copying Natsu now?'

Unbeknownst to them all, a certain blue-haired girl who had kept quiet throughout the whole ordeal silently slunk out of the guild, the door closing behind her with a barely audible click.

* * *

**A/N: And...! that's a wrap folks! Ha! Trolled you guys with the whole Sasuke not matching up to Makarov with the handshake bit didn't I? Come on guys! This is a guy who could trap all nine of the Bijuu at once in giant fucking moons! What the hell were you thinking? Anyway... Fun Fact, 1000 pounds is approximately equal to 450 kilos, which is the average weight of a telephone pole. The average weight of a car, if I'm correct, should be around 3500 pounds. This chapter is a prelude to the action which comes next chapter, and also sets the stage for the conflict... so get ready.**

**Oh, and I also don't believe in "definite pairings" as they are pathetic, lame and unrealistic as hell. So, if Sasuke has a partner for a pairing, it might be temporal in the sense that I may kill off the Character, or end the relationship and have Sasuke move on to someone else.**

** So stop pestering me about the pairing! Sasuke could possibly date Erza for all of three chapters before I have her die at the end of a villain like Jose (well not really, but you get my point.) That and I'm also removing the cliche rule about_ loyalty_ in relationships.**

**E.G. -**

_**Random Guy: Hey babe, dump this loser and lets meet afterwards.**_

_**Main Character's Partner/GF: No, I have a loving and caring partner who is blah blah blah and would never dump him or cheat on him or anything, even though he has a harem of other beautiful women who he fucks daily, i still love him all the same.**_

_**Random Guy: What. The. Fuck?**_

**You see what I mean guys? This has been done in so many fan fics that i've gotten sick of it and i'm going to break the rule to add some tension and realism.**

**Thank you for reading this extra long ass Author's Note and for reading the fic in general. Will try to update as soon as possible... so please,**

**Read and Review!**

**Ja Ne!**

**Illusionary Reality, out.**


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